Examining Moral Injury in Legal-Involved Veterans: Psychometric Properties of the Moral Injury Events Scale.
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Veterans comprise about 8% of the incarcerated US population. Legal system involvement may result in exposure to events that violate moral expectations (ie, moral injury). Currently, there are no validated measures for assessing legal-related moral injury. Methods: , and Personal Health Questionnaire-9. Results: One hundred veterans with a history of incarceration completed the MIES and an adapted version for legal-involved persons (MIES-LIP). More than 90% of participants reported potentially morally injurious experiences in the legal context. While confirmatory factor analysis did not support the proposed factor structure of the MIES-LIP, an exploratory factor analysis supported a 2-factor solution characterized by self- and other-directed moral injury. Conclusions: The MIES-LIP demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including good reliability and convergent validity, suggesting that legal-related moral injury is a salient and distinct phenomenon affecting legal-involved veterans. Future studies should consider the MIES-LIP as a tailored tool for legal-involved veterans.
Source: PubMed
DOI: 10.12788/fp0573
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4413369825