[War trauma and PTSD among German war survivors. A comparison of former soldiers and women of World War II]

Abstract

Stressful war experiences can cause posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in survivors. To what extent were the soldiers and young women of World War II affected by PTSD symptoms over the course of their lives? Do these men and women differ in the traumatic experiences and PTSD symptom severity? To investigate these questions 52 male and 20 female Germans aged 81-95 years were recruited through newspaper advertisements and notices and interviewed regarding war experiences and PTSD symptoms. Of the men 2% and 7% met the criteria for current and lifetime PTSD diagnoses, respectively, as compared to 10% and 30% of the women, respectively. Using multiple linear regression a dose-response relationship between the number of trauma types experienced and PTSD symptom severity could be demonstrated. The slope of the regression curve was steeper for women than for men. When controlling for the number of different traumatic experiences women reported a significantly higher severity of PTSD symptoms than men. It is presumed that this difference in severity of symptoms can be attributed to qualitative differences in the type of traumatic stress factors during the war. The present study provides evidence that even today people continue to be affected by PTSD symptoms due to events which occurred during World War II; therefore, during patient contact with this age group the war experiences specific to each individual need to be considered as potential moderators of symptoms.