Military Sexual Assault and Moral Injury: The Moderating Roles of Identity Coherence and Confusion

In the present study, we examined whether identity coherence and identity confusion moderate the association between military sexual assault and self-directed and betrayal-based moral injury among service members. Participants were 242 U.S. military members (159 males; Mage = 33.2 years, SD = 8.6) who had experienced one or more deployments. Multivariate multiple regression models tested identity coherence and identity confusion as statistical moderators of military sexual assault with self-directed moral injury and betrayal-based moral injury. Results indicated a significant interaction between military sexual assault and identity coherence in predicting both self-directed and betrayal-based moral injury. Specifically, higher identity coherence was positively associated with greater self-directed and betrayal-based moral injury among those who endorsed military sexual assault, but higher identity coherence was negatively associated with self-directed and betrayal-based moral injury among those who did not endorse sexual assault. These findings suggest the importance of developing a comprehensive conceptualization, which includes identity among recent-era veterans who indicate military sexual assault.