Behavioral Health Needs Assessment Survey (BHNAS): Overview of Survey Items and Measures

Abstract : Preserving the mental health of U.S. military service members and their families is of paramount concern to military leaders, military medical providers, and the general public. When expeditionary Navy sailors deployed to combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq were identified as a population that could potentially be at risk for mental health problems, the Behavioral Health Needs Assessment Survey (BHNAS) instrument was developed to monitor their mental health. The BHNAS is an anonymous survey that assesses the mental health, morale, and deployment-related stressors of Navy personnel who deploy to combat zones. The BHNAS was developed in response to a tasker that was issued by the Chief of Naval Operations. First administered to expeditionary Navy sailors in December 2006, the BHNAS instrument was designed to closely parallel the Army Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT) survey. Like the Army MHAT, the Navy BHNAS assesses mental health problems as well as a variety of other content areas, including attitudes toward leadership, unit cohesion, combat experiences, deployment-related stressors, traumatic brain injury, and sleep problems. This report provides detailed information about the ninth version of the BHNAS instrument, including the content areas, scales, and items that make up the survey. The sources of survey items and scales are provided, and changes in content that have occurred across versions of the BHNAS are described.