Relationships among trauma exposure, chronic posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and self-reported health in women: replication and extension

Abstract

Fifty-two women who served during the Vietnam era were assessed for war-zone exposure, traumatic life events, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and self-reported health status. Symptoms of PTSD were examined as mediators in the relationship between traumatic exposure and subsequent reports of health problems. Results showed that PTSD symptoms accounted significantly for variance in health problems reported by women with prior traumatic stressor exposure. When the cardinal symptom domains of PTSD (re-experiencing, numbing, avoidance, hyper-arousal) were analyzed separately, the symptom cluster representing hyper-arousal accounted uniquely for the variance associated with health complaints, beyond that contributed by other symptom clusters. Discussion of the results focuses on mechanisms underlying the relationship between specific symptoms of PTSD and self-reported health. Implications for intervention within the medical system are also considered.