Symptom attribution and symptom reporting in Australian Gulf War veterans

Symptom attribution and treatment seeking in Australian veterans

“…Previous analysis found no difference between Gulf War veterans and the comparison group in predominant attribution style; normalising was the predominant style in both groups (Wright et al, 2015). It has also been previously reported that attributional style did not differ by active service status (Wright et al, 2015). Further analyses revealed no differences in predominant attribution style for age or service type (e.g.…”

“…Our previous research findings revealed a similar distribution of attributional style in Gulf War veterans and a military-era comparison group (Wright et al, 2015); thus, the two groups will be considered together for the present analysis. This article aims to better understand healthcare usage by examining the role of symptom attribution through the following research questions:…”

“…It has been proposed that attributional styles influence a range of behaviours and attitudes towards treatment such as self-care, propensity and delays to seek treatment, compliance, success in coping with illness, patterns of self-care and clinical presentation (Robbins, 1991; Wright et al, 2015). Attributional style refers to a pattern in how individuals view the likely cause of their symptoms.…”

“…Previous research investigated the relationship between symptom reporting and attributional styles in Australian veterans finding that psychologisers and somatisers demonstrated higher symptom reporting than normalisers (Wright et al, 2015). New symptoms and symptoms that persisted over time were also associated with changed attributional styles (Wright et al, 2015). This article extends this research by examining the relationship between attributional styles and treatment-seeking behaviours and referrals to gain a deeper understanding of how individuals interact with the healthcare system.…”

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Somatic Complaints in a Deployed Cohort of Georgian Military Personnel: Mediating Effect of Depression and Anxiety

“…Somatic complaints have been researched in association with PTSD in a number of studies (Bosco, Gallinati, & Clark, ; McFarlane, Atchison, Rafalowicz, & Papay, ; Wolfe, Schnurr, Brown, & Furey, ; Wright, McFarlane, Clarke, Sim, & Kelsall, ) and the relation between these variables in the military population is well‐documented (Baker, Mendenhall, Simbartl, Magan, & Steinberg, ; Jakupcak et al., ; Kang et al., ; Moeller‐Bertram, Keltner, & Strigo, ). According to the available empirical evidence, the severity of somatic complaints is significantly higher among deployed soldiers and veterans with PTSD than among both civilians and military personnel without PTSD (Avdibegovic, Delic, Hadzibeganovic, & Selimbasic, ; Engel, Liu, McCarthy, Miller, & Ursano, ; Hoge et al., ; Otis, Keane, & Kerns, ; Schnurr, Spiro, & Paris, ; Vasterling et al., ).…”