title: Posttraumatic stress symptomatology as a mediator of the association between military sexual trauma and post-deployment physical health in women.
abstract: This study examined posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PSS) as a mediator of the association between military sexual trauma and post-deployment physical health. Relationships were examined in a sample of 83 female veterans of the first Gulf War (1990-1991) approximately 10 years post-deployment. Participants reported on the frequency of sexual harassment and sexual assault experienced during deployment. Physical health was measured using participants' self-reports of pre-deployment and post-deployment symptoms within 7 body systems. Sexual harassment exposure was not found to be associated with PSS-mediated associations with physical health symptoms. However, sexual assault during deployment was found to be associated with PSS and 4 of the 7 health symptom clusters assessed: gastrointestinal, genitourinary, musculoskeletal, and neurological symptoms. Furthermore, PSS was found to be a significant mediator of the sexual assault-physical health relationship in each of these domains, with the indirect path accounting for 74% to 100% of the relationship. The findings from the current study indicate that sexual assault has detrimental associations with physical health and that PSS plays a primary role in that relationship.
authors.affiliation: Women's Health Sciences Division, National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts 02130, USA. Brian.Smith12@va.gov
authors.forename: Brian N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jillian C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Shipherd
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.forename: Dawne S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Vogt
authors.forename: Lynda A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D047830:Gulf War; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D017406:Sexual Harassment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data