<p>This is to my knowledge the first time a ten-year follow-up study of salivary cortisol concentrations measured by immunoassays in relation to posttraumatic symptoms according to the Impact of Event Scale (IES) is made. The study was performed on 78 Swedish UN soldiers after a 6-months mission in the former republic of Yugoslavia. Follow-up investigations were performed six months, twelve months and ten years after their return to Sweden. Morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) and subjective posttraumatic avoidance and intrusion symptoms were measured with the IES (see Appendix I).</p><p> </p><p>This study concerns the methodological description of the EIA for determination of salivary cortisol and the comparison of the results from all three follow-up investigations. Post-traumatic stress symptoms according to IES (intrusion subscale and total score) increased significantly over ten years of time. There was an significant interrelationship between the change in both morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations, measured with immunoassays, and changes in self-rated posttraumatic intrusive symptoms, according to IES, during ten years follow-up, after a six months mission in Bosnia in the way that salivary cortisol concentrations showed a tendency to decrease over ten years of time in subjects with a higher IES score. The rise in morning salivary cortisol, from awakening until 30 minutes later, was significantly correlated with the ratings of posttraumatic stress symptoms according to the IES ten years after the mission.   </p>

This is to my knowledge the first time a ten-year follow-up study of salivary cortisol concentrations measured by immunoassays in relation to posttraumatic symptoms according to the Impact of Event Scale (IES) is made. The study was performed on 78 Swedish UN soldiers after a 6-months mission in the former republic of Yugoslavia. Follow-up investigations were performed six months, twelve months and ten years after their return to Sweden. Morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) and subjective posttraumatic avoidance and intrusion symptoms were measured with the IES (see Appendix I).   This study concerns the methodological description of the EIA for determination of salivary cortisol and the comparison of the results from all three follow-up investigations. Post-traumatic stress symptoms according to IES (intrusion subscale and total score) increased significantly over ten years of time. There was an significant interrelationship between the change in both morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations, measured with immunoassays, and changes in self-rated posttraumatic intrusive symptoms, according to IES, during ten years follow-up, after a six months mission in Bosnia in the way that salivary cortisol concentrations showed a tendency to decrease over ten years of time in subjects with a higher IES score. The rise in morning salivary cortisol, from awakening until 30 minutes later, was significantly correlated with the ratings of posttraumatic stress symptoms according to the IES ten years after the mission.

Siekiant nustatyti iš misijos Afganistane grįžusių karių psichologinę būklę, patiriamus stresogeninius įvykius, kokios stresinės situacijos įtakoja potrauminio streso pasireiškimą, šiame darbe analizuojami jų patirti stresogeniniai įvykiai, potrauminio streso išsivystymas bei grupės sutelktumas. „Karių patiriamo streso klausimynas“, Potrauminio streso Misisipės skalė“, „Grupės sutelktumo“ klausimynais. Apklausta 111 iš misijos Afganistane grįžusių karių. Rezultatai parodė, kad kariams, patyrusiems daugiau stresogeninių įvykių bei blogiau vertinantiems grupės sutelktumą, yra labiau išreikšti potrauminio streso simptomai, nei tiek pat patyrusiems stresogeninių įvykių, bet geriau vertinantiems grupės sutelktumą. Nustatyta, kad nepriklausomai nuo patiriamų stresogeninių įvykių, kariai patiria daugiau potrauminio streso simptomų, esant blogesniam grupės sutelktumui. Tiek aukštojo, tiek neturinčių aukštojo išsilavinimo, tiek vyresnių, tiek jaunesnių ir patyrusių stresogeninių įvykių karių potrauminio streso simptomų išreikštumas nesiskiria. / Aiming to assess the psychological condition of soldiers, who have returned from an international mission in Afghanistan, the incurred stressogenic events, to find out what stressful situations cause post-traumatic stress, the stressogenic events they have experienced as well as development of post-traumatic stress and unit cohesion are the scope of analysis of this paper. 111 soldiers, who had returned from an international mission, were interviewed using the following surveys: Soldiers' Stress Survey, Mississippi Scale for Post-traumatic Stress, Unit Cohesion. The results demonstrated that the soldiers, who had experienced more stressogenic events and evaluated the unit cohesion with a lower grade, had a deeper post-traumatic stress symptoms than those, who had experienced the same number of stressogenic events but gave a better evaluation of the unit cohesion. It has been established that in the event of lower unit cohesion, soldiers experience deeper post-traumatic stress symptoms, regardless of incurred stressogenic events. The depth of post-traumatic stress symptoms did not vary between groups of soldiers having higher education degree and those who did not, as well as between older and younger or the ones, with bigger stressogenic event experience.