Peace and war: trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms before, during, and after military deployment in Afghanistan.


Autoria(s): Berntsen, D; Johannessen, KB; Thomsen, YD; Bertelsen, M; Hoyle, RH; Rubin, DC
Data(s)

01/12/2012

Formato

1557 - 1565

Identificador

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23129059

0956797612457389

Psychol Sci, 2012, 23 (12), pp. 1557 - 1565

http://hdl.handle.net/10161/9771

1467-9280

Relação

Psychol Sci

10.1177/0956797612457389

Palavras-Chave #Adult #Afghan Campaign 2001- #Combat Disorders #Denmark #Humans #Male #Military Personnel #Resilience, Psychological #Severity of Illness Index #Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic #Time Factors #Warfare
Tipo

Journal Article

Cobertura

United States

Resumo

In the study reported here, we examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in 746 Danish soldiers measured on five occasions before, during, and after deployment to Afghanistan. Using latent class growth analysis, we identified six trajectories of change in PTSD symptoms. Two resilient trajectories had low levels across all five times, and a new-onset trajectory started low and showed a marked increase of PTSD symptoms. Three temporary-benefit trajectories, not previously described in the literature, showed decreases in PTSD symptoms during (or immediately after) deployment, followed by increases after return from deployment. Predeployment emotional problems and predeployment traumas, especially childhood adversities, were predictors for inclusion in the nonresilient trajectories, whereas deployment-related stress was not. These findings challenge standard views of PTSD in two ways. First, they show that factors other than immediately preceding stressors are critical for PTSD development, with childhood adversities being central. Second, they demonstrate that the development of PTSD symptoms shows heterogeneity, which indicates the need for multiple measurements to understand PTSD and identify people in need of treatment.

Idioma(s)

ENG