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The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Moral Injury on Women Veterans’ Perinatal Outcomes Following Separation From Military Service
Author(s) -
Nillni Yael I.,
Shayani Danielle R.,
Finley Erin,
Copeland Laurel A.,
Perkins Daniel F.,
Vogt Dawne S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.22509
Subject(s) - anxiety , pregnancy , medicine , moral injury , gestational diabetes , population , psychiatry , depression (economics) , anxiety disorder , gestation , psychology , genetics , environmental health , macroeconomics , economics , psychotherapist , biology
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been found to lead to several adverse perinatal outcomes in the general population. Preliminary research has found that women veterans with PTSD have an increased prevalence of preterm birth, gestational diabetes, and preeclampsia. Less research has examined the role of moral injury (MI) in perinatal outcomes. This longitudinal survey study examined the impact of PTSD symptoms and MI on prospectively assessed adverse perinatal outcomes among women who became pregnant in the first 3 years after separating from U.S. military service ( N = 318). The Moral Injury Events Scale was used to assess the degree to which individuals experienced distress related to transgressions of deeply held moral beliefs, and the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM‐5 (PC‐PTSD) was used to assess PTSD symptoms. Perinatal outcomes included experiencing an adverse pregnancy outcome (e.g., preterm birth, gestational diabetes), postpartum depression and/or anxiety, and perceived difficult pregnancy. Although both PTSD symptoms, adjusted odds ratio (a OR ) = 1.16, 95% CI [1.00, 1.35]; and MI, a OR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.06, 1.41], emerged as significant predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes, only PTSD symptoms were a significant predictor of postpartum depression and/or anxiety, a OR = 1.43, 95% CI [1.22, 1.68], and perception of a difficult pregnancy, β = .31, when controlling for lifetime trauma exposure, age, socioeconomic status, and ethnic/racial minority status. The results indicate that both PTSD symptoms and MI are associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, supporting the potential need to screen for both PTSD and MI during the perinatal period.