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Mental health officers' causal explanations of combat stress reaction
Author(s) -
Shalom Dina,
Benbenishty Rami,
Solomon Zahava
Publication year - 1995
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.2490080207
Subject(s) - attribution , respondent , psychology , mental health , personality , clinical psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , political science , law
This study examined causal attributions for combat stress reaction (CSR) among 117 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) mental health officers. The impact of case characteristics (the level of objective stress in the situation, reaction of others in the same situation, soldier's previous functioning and type of symptomatology) and respondent characteristics (professional affiliation, therapeutic orientation) on these attributions was also examined. Results show that mental health officers view CSR primarily as a response to external circumstances; it is not generally seen as resulting from personality traits or intrapsychic processes. Findings also indicate that causal attributions were influenced at least to some degree by the clinicians' professional affiliation, their therapeutic orientation, and their knowledge of the casualty's prior functioning.