title: Symptom patterns associated with chronic PTSD in male veterans: new findings from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study.
abstract: A subsample of 255 male Vietnam veterans from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study received in-depth psychiatric diagnostic interviews. This paper focuses on the 88 veterans with a war-related onset of PTSD. Among these veterans, the avoidance cluster, especially its symptoms of numbing, was most strongly associated with chronic PTSD; less strongly but also significantly associated was the hyperarousal cluster. Further analyses show that these associations are not artifacts of the relationship of symptom patterns to prewar demographic factors (race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age at entry into Vietnam), comorbidity, treatment and compensation seeking, or probable severity of war-related trauma. We conclude that certain symptom profiles may predict enduring pathological responses to trauma and therefore provide targets for intervention efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Randall D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: J Blake
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lewis-Fernandez
authors.forename: Karestan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koenan
authors.forename: Yuval
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Neria
authors.forename: Bruce P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Dohrenwend
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014729:Veterans Disability Claims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D047829:Vietnam Conflict