Combat-related trauma as measured by ego developmental indices of defenses and identity achievement.
The relation between combat-related trauma experience and male ego development and the impact of such trauma on subsequent employment, marital, and legal behavior were investigated empirically. Vietnam combat veterans (N = 52) diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ), the Ego Identity Scale (EIS), and the Impact of Event Scale (IES); 45 noncombat Vietnam-era veterans (not diagnosed with PTSD) completed the DSQ and the EIS. Combat veterans were found to use more maladaptive defenses and have lower levels of identity achievement. Failed marriages, employment problems, and the tendency to experience legal difficulties were more prevalent among the combat veterans. Data analyses showed that identity and defenses do indeed correlate, suggesting that these constitute a unified construct that can be subsumed under the rubric of ego development.
Silverstein
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Student Counseling Service Bar Ilan University, Israel.
D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004532:Ego; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare