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Modeling physical health and functional health status: The role of combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder, and personal resource attributes
Author(s) -
Taft Casey T.,
Stern Amy S.,
King Lynda A.,
King Daniel W.
Publication year - 1999
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 - 10.1023/a:1024786030358
Subject(s) - psychology , path analysis (statistics) , hardiness (plants) , posttraumatic stress , physical health , social support , clinical psychology , public health , mental health , psychiatry , medicine , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , nursing , horticulture , cultivar , biology
Abstract This study examined associations of combat exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with physical health conditions and also incorporated hardiness and social support as mediators and functional health status as an outcome. Data were derived from 1,632 male and female Vietnam veterans who participated in the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. Path analysis revealed that hardiness and social support operated primarily as intermediary variables between combat exposure and PTSD, and PTSD emerged as the pivotal variable explaining physical health conditions and functional health status. Gender‐based differences in means and patterns of associations among variables were found. The results stress the importance of assessing trauma in clinical settings as a meaningful determinant of health outcomes.