title: Contributors to hypervigilance in a military and civilian sample.
abstract: Hypervigilance toward ambiguous or threatening stimuli is a prominent feature in many trauma survivors including active and returning soldiers. This study set out to investigate the factors that contribute to hypervigilance in a mixed sample. One hundred forty-five individuals, 50 of whom were war zone veterans, filled out a series of questionnaires including the Hypervigilance Questionnaire (HVQ; Kimble, Fleming, & Bennion, 2009). Other participants included military cadets, college undergraduates, and a traumatized community sample. In this sample, a history of military deployment and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms independently predicted hypervigilance. The findings suggest that deployment to a war zone, in and of itself, can lead to hypervigilant behavior. Therefore, characterizing hypervigilance as pathological in a veteran sample must be done so with caution.
authors: Psychology Department, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USA. mkimble@middlebury.edu
authors: Matthew O
authors: MO
authors: Kimble
authors: Kevin
authors: K
authors: Fleming
authors: Kelly A
authors: KA
authors: Bennion
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015984:Causality; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult