Emerging research suggests that childhood adversities may increase both the risk and symptomology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in our veteran population. Over 40% of our reintegrating military veterans return with significant mental health issues led by combatrelated PTSD. PTSD impacts veterans in numerous areas including unemployment, increased criminal justice involvement, increased treatment costs, divorce, co-morbid mental illness, greater levels of domestic violence, homelessness, high college dropout rates, suicide, and long term health problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of childhood adversities (abuse, neglect, and poverty) upon the severity of combat-related PTSD in veteran populations. Specifically, the researcher examines the direct effects of: (1) childhood trauma; (2) childhood neglect; and (3) childhood poverty (as assessed based on socioeconomic status [SES]) upon the severity of combat-related PTSD. This study of student veterans (n=102) receiving services from a veteran service center at a major metropolitan university in Central Florida is a non-experimental, explanatory, retrospective survey design using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the relationships among study variables. Findings strongly supported a relationship between childhood trauma and neglect and the severity of combat-related PTSD. Similarly, findings also supported that no relationship existed between childhood SES and the severity of combat-related PTSD. Both childhood trauma and neglect were significantly associated with combat-related PTSD at an even greater effect than that of combat exposure. SES was not found to be significant in the severity of combat-related PTSD. The findings iv suggest that preventive screening policies to reduce costs and severity of combat-related PTSD might be needed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-3603 |
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| Creators | Bermes, Michael |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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