The Betrayal–Transition Stress Model: Explaining Moral Injury Across Military Transitions
| Thursday, May 21, 2026 |
| 4:50 PM - 4:51 PM |
Speaker
Dr. Walter Sowden
Lecturer
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
The Betrayal–Transition Stress Model: Explaining Moral Injury Across Military Transitions
Abstract Document
Betrayal is increasingly recognized as a core dimension of moral injury, yet its impact during critical life transitions remains theoretically underdeveloped. The Betrayal–Transition Stress Model (BTSM) proposes that betrayal, whether interpersonal or institutional, disrupts the trust, predictability, and coherence required for adaptive adjustment during high-stakes transitions. Such disruptions impair regulatory adaptation, heightening vulnerability to post-traumatic stress, diminishing well-being, and undermining reintegration and performance.
To begin testing this framework, two complementary longitudinal studies of U.S. Army Soldiers were conducted. Study 1 (Sowden & Jones, 2024, Military Medicine) tracked 505 Soldiers during an operational deployment and found that betrayal-based potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs) predicted elevated post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), even when controlling for self- and other-attributed PMIEs, baseline stress levels, and the interactive effects of moral identity. Study 2 (Sowden, Hart, & Bonanno, under review, Journal of Traumatic Stress) followed 719 Soldiers across the military-to-civilian transition, showing that betrayal-related PMIEs uniquely predicted increases in PTSS and reintegration difficulty six months post-separation, above and beyond combat exposure, baseline stress, and demographic factors. Effects were most pronounced among men and partnered individuals, suggesting that betrayal interacts with role-related identity demands.
Together, these findings provide initial empirical support for BTSM and highlight betrayal as a distinct mechanism linking morally injurious events to health and functional outcomes during major identity transitions such as deployment and reintegration. The model integrates perspectives from betrayal trauma, institutional betrayal, and transition stress theories, and points toward future research examining how trust disruption, coherence loss, and regulatory inflexibility mediate betrayal’s impact. BTSM offers a conceptual foundation for developing interventions and organizational practices that promote moral repair and adaptive transition among service members and other high-stakes professions.
To begin testing this framework, two complementary longitudinal studies of U.S. Army Soldiers were conducted. Study 1 (Sowden & Jones, 2024, Military Medicine) tracked 505 Soldiers during an operational deployment and found that betrayal-based potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs) predicted elevated post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), even when controlling for self- and other-attributed PMIEs, baseline stress levels, and the interactive effects of moral identity. Study 2 (Sowden, Hart, & Bonanno, under review, Journal of Traumatic Stress) followed 719 Soldiers across the military-to-civilian transition, showing that betrayal-related PMIEs uniquely predicted increases in PTSS and reintegration difficulty six months post-separation, above and beyond combat exposure, baseline stress, and demographic factors. Effects were most pronounced among men and partnered individuals, suggesting that betrayal interacts with role-related identity demands.
Together, these findings provide initial empirical support for BTSM and highlight betrayal as a distinct mechanism linking morally injurious events to health and functional outcomes during major identity transitions such as deployment and reintegration. The model integrates perspectives from betrayal trauma, institutional betrayal, and transition stress theories, and points toward future research examining how trust disruption, coherence loss, and regulatory inflexibility mediate betrayal’s impact. BTSM offers a conceptual foundation for developing interventions and organizational practices that promote moral repair and adaptive transition among service members and other high-stakes professions.
Biography
Dr. Walt Sowden is a Lecturer of Management and Organizations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, where he teaches organizational behavior, leadership development, and negotiation across undergraduate, MBA, and executive education programs. His teaching draws on nearly three decades of military, academic, and research leadership, integrating behavioral science and organizational psychology to enhance performance and well-being in complex, high-stakes environments.
Dr. Sowden retired from the U.S. Army in 2024 after 28 years of active service. He commanded a logistics company in the 1st Cavalry Division during Operation Iraqi Freedom, taught leadership at West Point, and led the Operational Research Team at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where his work on team dynamics and performance under stress informed the Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness initiative. He later served as Director of Research for the Department of Behavioral Health at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawai‘i.
Dr. Sowden holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan, an MA from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA from South Dakota State University. His research examines loyalty, moral decision-making, and resilience, with a focus on advancing the leadership and well-being of service members and veterans.
