Delayed PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder): Incidence, Impact Mediation, Stressful Life Events, Social Resources and Coping Style

Abstract

Delayed onset PTSD (DPTSD), an inevitable consequence of wars, has been the focus of numerous clinical reports. Study 1: The sample consisted of three groups of veterans: (1) delayed PTSD casualties; (2) chronic PTSD casualties; and (3) soldiers who emerged from the 1982 war without any diagnosable psychiatric disorder (controls). Results showed significant differences among the study groups. Delayed PTSD cases exhibited significantly more disorder and distress than controls, but less than chronic cases. Both delayed and chronic PTSD subjects reported having experienced more threating situations during battle than control subjects. In use of personal resources to mitigate stress, delayed PTSD subjects were more similar to controls than to chronic PTSD subejcts. DPTSD and controls than to chronic PTSD subjects. DPTSD subjects did not differ in their experience of negative life events from control subjects. However, both DPTSD and controls reported fewer negative life events than chronic PTSD cases. Study 2: The sample consisted of three groups of women married to combat veterans: (1) wives of DPTSD casualties; (2) wives of veterans with immediate onset PTSD; and (3) wives of non-PTSD combat veterans. Wives of PTSD casualties reported considerably more distress than wives of non-PTSD veterans. Wives of delayed onset PTSD veterans, however, reported the most severe distress in both themselves and their husbands. Keywords: Combat stress, Trauma.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 30, 1989
Accession Number
ADA210491

Entities

People

  • Zahava Solomon

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Families (Human)
  • Health Services
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Disorders
  • Pain
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Second World War
  • Social Networks
  • Social Problems
  • Social Psychology
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Therapy
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Brain and Cognitive Science; Experimental Psychology; Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Mental Health of Military Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Risk Factors, Prevalence, Symptoms, and Treatment.