Do Psychopathic Traits Statistically Protect Against PTSD? A Retrospective Study of Vietnam Veterans

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-S4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauna M. Bowes ◽  
April L. Brown ◽  
William W. Thompson ◽  
Martin Sellbom ◽  
Scott O. Lilienfeld
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Retrospective Study ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Combat Exposure ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Dsm 5 ◽  
Statistical Interactions

Although psychopathy traits are traditionally associated with maladaptivity, certain traits may statistically buffer against risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Research suggests that psychopathy traits are differentially associated with PTSD, as boldness traits are negatively related to PTSD whereas disinhibition features are positively related. The authors sought to clarify the relations between psychopathy and PTSD in a large sample of Vietnam veterans (N = 2,598) and to examine the statistical interactions among (a) psychopathy traits and (b) combat exposure and psychopathy traits in predicting PTSD. Results indicate that psychopathy traits are differentially associated with PTSD in combat-exposed veterans, although the authors found little evidence that boldness was protective against PTSD. Nonetheless, meanness was significantly, albeit weakly, protective against PTSD in the presence of combat exposure. The authors consider the implications of these findings for future research, including the need to consider fearlessness as a heterogeneous construct, and they examine whether the findings generalize to PTSD in DSM-5.

The Cycle of Trauma: Relationship Aggression in Male Vietnam Veterans With Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina A. Byrne ◽  
David S. Riggs
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Psychological Aggression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Female Partners ◽  
Relationship Aggression ◽  
Increased Risk

This study examined the association between symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in male Vietnam veterans and their use of aggressive behavior in relationships with intimate female partners. Fifty couples participated in the study. Veterans reported on their PTSD symptoms, and veterans and partners completed measures assessing the veterans’ use of physical, verbal,’ and psychological aggression during the preceding year as well as measures of their own perceptions of problems in the relationship. Results indicated that PTSD symptomatology places veterans at increased risk for perpetrating relationship aggression against their partners. The association between veterans’ PTSD symptoms and their use of aggression in relationships was mediated by relationship problems. Clinical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Epidemiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Adults

2012 ◽  
pp. 83-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Breslau
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Epidemiological Surveys

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was established in 1980, when it was incorporated in the DSM-III. The PTSD definition brackets a distinct set of stressors—traumatic events—from other stressful experiences and links it causally with a specific response, the PTSD syndrome. Explicit diagnostic criteria in DSM-III made it feasible to conduct large-scale epidemiological surveys on PTSD and other psychiatric disorders, using structured diagnostic interviews administered by nonclinicians. Epidemiologic research has been expanded from Vietnam veterans, who were the center of DSM-III PTSD study, to civilian populations and postwar regions worldwide. This chapter summarizes information on the prevalence estimates of PTSD in U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War, soldiers returning from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, and civilian populations. It outlines research findings on the course of PTSD, risk factors, comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, and the risk for other posttrauma disoders. It concludes with recommendations for future research.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Comorbidity in Australian Vietnam Veterans: Risk Factors, Chronicity and Combat

1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian I. O'toole ◽  
Richard P. Marshall ◽  
Ralph J. Schureck ◽  
Matthew Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Combat Exposure ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Drug Use Disorders

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and comorbid DSM-III-R psychiatric diagnoses to determine commonalities in risk factors, relative onsets and the role of combat exposure. Method: An epidemiological cohort study using standardised psychiatric, social and health interviews was undertaken with a national random sample of male Australian Army Vietnam veterans. Interviews and searches of military records yielded risk factors for PTSD, which were examined for association with each psychiatric diagnosis. Relative onsets of PTSD and each Diagnostic Interview Schedule diagnosis were compared. Comorbidity odds ratios were adjusted for combat exposure effects using logistic regression, and the relation between each diagnosis and combat was assessed after controlling for PTSD. Results: Commonality of risk factor profile was evident for several diagnoses, and for many their onset preceded PTSD onset. Combat was independently related to only a few diagnoses after controlling for PTSD, and PTSD remained strongly associated with several conditions after controlling for combat exposure. Conclusions: The analysis suggests that the disorders that may constitute risk factors or vulnerabilities for PTSD comprise depression and dysthymia, antisocial personality disorder, agoraphobia and simple phobia, while those that may be consequent on PTSD are panic and generalised anxiety disorder, drug use disorders and somatoform pain disorder. Alcohol and drug use disorders and social phobia may have a mixed aetiology, while obsessive-compulsive disorder may be serendip-itously related to PTSD through an association with risk of combat. Gambling disorder is unrelated.

Violence and Hostility Among Families of Vietnam Veterans With Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

2002 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Michael Glenn ◽  
Jean C. Beckham ◽  
Michelle E. Feldman ◽  
Angela C. Kirby ◽  
Michael A. Hertzberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽  
Posttraumatic Stress ◽  
Vietnam Veterans ◽  
Stress Disorder ◽  
Violent Behavior ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ptsd Symptoms ◽  
Gender And Age ◽  
General Psychological Distress

The current study provides a portrait of emotional-behavioral functioning within a small sample of Vietnam veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their partners, and older adolescent and adult children. Veterans, their partners and children reported moderate-low to moderate-high levels of violent behavior. In addition, partner and veteran hostility scores were elevated relative to gender and age matched norms. Partners also reported heightened levels of psychological maltreatment by veterans. Veterans’ combat exposure was positively correlated with hostility and violent behavior among children but unrelated to partner variables. Veterans’ reports of PTSD symptoms were positively associated with reports of hostility and violence among children, and hostility and general psychological distress among partners. Veterans’ violent behavior was also positively correlated with children’s violent behavior, but did not yield significant correlations with other child or partner variables. Findings are discussed in relation to prior work and directions for future research are addressed.

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