ALTERNATIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF WAR ZONE STRESSORS - RELATIONSHIPS TO POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN MALE AND FEMALE VIETNAM VETERANS

Four conceptualizations of war zone stressor experiences were defined: traditional combat, atrocities-abusive violence, perceived threat, an d malevolent environment. Items from the National Vietnam Veterans Rea djustment Study (NVVRS) were reviewed for content, and stressor indexe s were created. Using retrospective self-report data from the NVVRS, i ntercorrelations among stressor scores and between these scores and me asures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were computed for all v eterans and for men and women separately. Structural equation modeling procedures followed. Results indicated that the four stressor indexes were internally consistent, reasonably distinct from one another, and influenced PTSD differentially. Men scored significantly higher than women on all 4 indexes. Whereas the pattern of relationships among the variables was comparable across genders, there was evidence that one path coefficient in the model differed for men and women.