For several decades, the dominant perspective on the mental health of veterans has focused primarily on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Considerable research has shown recently, however, that only a relatively small portion of veterans suffers from PTSD. The stress of transitioning from being a soldier back into civilian life appears to better account for the myriad mental health problems and broader levels of distress veterans may report or develop. Unfortunately, research on this problem has been limited almost exclusively to self-report, survey studies. In the current research, we tested for this experimentally using an online Cyberball task. The anticipated and supported finding that veterans experience greater levels of loneliness when excluded or ostracized by non-veterans suggests an imperative need for broader research frameworks and increased dedication towards educating veterans on the necessity of meaningful social connectivity post-transition.

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One of the primary reasons many college students with disabilities, and more specifically college student veterans with disabilities, do not seek support services is due to the stigma associated with disability, especially cognitive and mental health disabilities. The purpose of the present study was to explore how public university faculty in the state of Illinois perceive a college student veteran with the concurrent disabilities of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). This information was gleaned by means of a mixed-method, online survey. Through iterative, comparative, qualitative analysis, characteristics used to describe college student veterans with the PTSD and TBI were classified into six emergent prototypes. These prototypes included (1) the mature independent student; (2) the American hero; (3) the special needs student; (4) the isolated student; (5) the volatile student; and (6) the wounded warrior. Secondary analyses quantitatively examined the relationship between contact with a student veteran and the proportion of positive responses given for each participant as well as the relationship between contact with a student veteran and the proportion of negative responses given for each participant. Pearson correlation analysis indicated no significant relationship between prior contact factor scores and the proportion of positive responses given by faculty r(269) = .032, p = .597 nor was there a significant relationship detected between prior contact factor scores and the proportion of negative responses given by faculty r(269) = -.020, p= .745. Tertiary analysis examined the proportion of positive to negative perceptions by faculty. Overall, faculty responses were more negative than positive. Implications for best practices at the administration level as well as for faculty and students were discussed. Limitations to the study were also discussed.

This systematic review aims to investigate the alterations in gray matter volume (GMV) observed in the brains of individuals diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the Clinical Administered PTSD scale (CAPS) using Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM) as a method. PTSD is diagnosed when an individual meets all the criteria for PTSD as defined by the DSM, which includes having experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, experiencing intrusive symptoms such as flashbacks or nightmares, avoiding triggers related to the trauma, experiencing negative changes in mood and cognition, and experiencing changes in arousal and reactivity. Previous research investigating gray matter alterations in patients with PTSD has yielded heterogeneous findings. The review incorporates a comprehensive search and analysis of pertinent studies conducted between 1995 and the present. Diverse databases were scrutinized to identify articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Ultimately, a total of seven articles meeting our inclusion criteria were included in this systematic review. The sample sizes ranged from 30 to 75 participants. The control groups in the chosen articles varied, some only had healthy controls (HC), while some had trauma-exposed controls (TC) or included both. The results consistently revealed a reduction in GMV predominantly in the hippocampus, with additional areas exhibiting decreased GMV such as the bilateral hypothalamus and left inferior parietal lobule, right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, and right fusiform gyrus, as well as the bilateral calcarine cortex, left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, left anterior cingulate cortex, and bilateral insula.

The ability to regulate emotions is essential for human well-being. Among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, the capability to control emotions is impaired. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy is a recommended treatment for patients diagnosed with PTSD. Usually, cognitive reappraisal is considered the primary regulation technique in cognitive behavioral therapy treatment. The strategy aims to decrease negative or increase positive emotions by changing the interpretation of an event to alter the meaning of the situation. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a systematic review of the neural correlates of cognitive reappraisal among post-traumatic stress disorder patients. Through a systematic search, screening, and selection process out of initial 545 articles, six studies were included for data extraction and discussion. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, participants utilized the strategy of cognitive reappraisal during an emotion regulation task in the scanner. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the neural activity of the participants in the included studies was compared during a cognitive reappraisal task. The result revealed a tendency of decreased activity in prefrontal cortices in PTSD patients during reappraisal compared to controls, indicating deficient recruitment of prefrontal cortices in PTSD patients during reappraisal.

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Events such as conflicts, natural disasters, online deplatformings, and economic collapses can force people away from their long-standing social networks and require them to rebuild their social lives in new locations or settings. How do social networks shape the effects of these disruptions on communities? How does social behavior respond to violence? In this dissertation, I investigate the dynamic relationship between violence and social networks. In two essays, I analyze the effect of violence on social behavior in two contexts, using data from conflict-affected communities in Myanmar and Ukraine. In the third essay, I formally study the relationship between civilians’ social network characteristics and the optimal violence strategies for states. The first essay investigates the effects of exposure to violence on social network composition and formation among internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kachin State, Myanmar. Using original survey data from 5 camps, I find that those exposed to violence on the extensive margin have fewer initial, new, and close ties and those exposed on the intensive margin have fewer new ties within the camps. However, those exposed to violence do not form ties with other exposed IDPs at a higher rate than with non-exposed IDPs. The second essay asks, how does exposure to violence affect the ability of forcibly internally displaced people (IDPs) to integrate into new communities? I introduce and test a demand-side theory of integration using the case of internally displaced people in Ukraine. Using original survey data, I show that those directly exposed to violence are less successful in integrating into their new communities. Moreover, I show that the results are consistent with a psychological mechanism: those directly exposed to violence are more likely to exhibit symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. The third essay asks, how does the structure of civilians’ social networks shape the optimal form of violence to be used against them? Theories explaining why states choose to use targeted or indiscriminate violence against civilians hinge on the state's capacity to gain information about whom to target and its ability to do enough damage to prevent defection to the rebel's side. In contrast to these theories, I show that the choice of strategy depends on the characteristics of the community experiencing the violence, not the state employing it. This essay argues that even when states can target certain civilians, they may choose to employ indiscriminate violence due to characteristics of civilians' social network structure. The state's optimal strategy of violence is driven by two factors: the degree distribution of civilians' social networks and the correlation between citizens' motivation to leave a network and citizens' value to other nodes in the network. When the degree distribution is uniform, and motivation and value are positively correlated, indiscriminate violence is more often preferred.