Impact of different cover letter information and incentives on Veterans’ emotional responses to an unsolicited mailed survey about military traumas: a randomized, 3x2x2 factorial trial

Table 1 Pre-survey affect and change in affect overall; change in affect post-survey by study factors

Affect	Affect Overall		Topics Covered by Survey			How Name was Obtained		Incentive
Affect	Pre-Survey	Change after Survey	Combat	Military Sexual Trauma	Life Experiences that Affect Well-Being	List of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans	List of Veterans applying for Disability Benefits	$20	$40
Men	N = 190	N = 190	n = 68	n = 66	n = 56	n =84	n =106	n =81	n =109
Valence	5.01 (1.68)	0.25 (1.25)	0.46 (1.27)	0.02 (0.97)	0.27 (1.47)	0.11 (1.10)	0.36 (1.35)	0.09 (1.31)	0.37 (1.20)
Arousal	5.07 (1.94)	0.14 (1.42)	0.13 (1.28)	0.17 (1.17)	0.11 (1.81)	0.12 (1.35)	0.15 (1.47)	0.11 (1.47)	0.16 (1.38)
Women	N = 193	N = 193	n = 59	n = 67	n = 67	n =92	n =101	n =87	n =106
Valence	5.40 (1.81)	0.22 (1.40)	0.31 (1.36)	0.15 (1.34)	0.21 (1.49)	0.08 (1.26)	0.35 (1.50)	0.34 (1.44)	0.11 (1.35)
Arousal	5.27 (1.89)	0.20 (1.48)	0.41 (1.63)	-0.03 (1.38)	0.25 (1.42)	-0.01 (1.35)	0.40 (1.57)	0.25 (1.60)	0.16 (1.37)

Results are reported as means with standard deviations in (). Positive score changes signify more sadness (valence) or tenseness (arousal) post-survey compared to pre-survey. Negative score changes signify less sadness (valence) or tenseness (arousal) post-survey compared to pre-survey. Score changes’ possibilities range from -8 to 8.
OEF/OIF/OND = Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn.

ISSN: 1471-2288