title: Two studies of reported pretraumatic stressors' effect on posttraumatic stress disorder severity.
abstract: We contrasted in two studies the effects of military trauma on Vietnam veterans who reported high and low premilitary stress. In the first, we administered the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Interview (PTSD-I), a premilitary modification of the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, and the Military Stress Scale to hospitalized veterans. Premilitary stress appeared to reduce the impact of combat on several trauma-reexperiencing ratings, although the relevant evidence was inconsistent. In the second study, the premilitary stress main effects and the premilitary stress/combat interactions on four PTSD-I factors were nonsignificant. Thus, the severities of most PTSD symptoms increased with trauma intensity, but not with milder premilitary stress. The inconsistent data on the impact of pretraumatic stress on the trauma severity/PTSD relationships suggest further study.
authors.affiliation: Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, St. Cloud, MN 56303.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kucala
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Juba
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Davenport
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*