The Cycle of Trauma: Relationship Aggression in Male Vietnam Veterans With Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

This study examined the association between symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in male Vietnam veterans and their use of aggressive behavior in relationships with intimate female partners. Fifty couples participated in the study. Veterans reported on their PTSD symptoms, and veterans and partners completed measures assessing the veterans’ use of physical, verbal,’ and psychological aggression during the preceding year as well as measures of their own perceptions of problems in the relationship. Results indicated that PTSD symptomatology places veterans at increased risk for perpetrating relationship aggression against their partners. The association between veterans’ PTSD symptoms and their use of aggression in relationships was mediated by relationship problems. Clinical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A systematic review of mental disorders and perpetration of domestic violence among military populations

“…All studies were conducted in high-income countries, with seven in the USA [15,23,[41][42][43][44][45], one in Canada [46], one in Israel [47] and one in the UK [20]. Seven papers sampled only military veterans [15,23,41,42,44,45,47], two papers sampled only active-duty military personnel [43,46] and one sampled both active-duty and ex-service personnel [20].…”

“…US National Guard units, US Air Force, Canadian Regular Forces and UK Armed Forces communities). Six studies reported on past year violence only [15,23,[41][42][43]47], three on any violence perpetrated within a current relationship [44][45][46] and one on violence perpetrated in the weeks following return from deployment [48]. Six studies included both male and female military personnel and four included only men.…”

“…Past year psychological partner violence perpetration Four papers reported on past year psychological partner violence perpetration among military personnel with PTSD [15,23,42,47]. Among men with PTSD, the median prevalence of past year psychological partner violence perpetration (four studies) was 91.0 % (IQR 88.3-92.3 %; range 80-96 %) [15,23,42,47].…”

“…Among men with PTSD, the median prevalence of past year psychological partner violence perpetration (four studies) was 91.0 % (IQR 88.3-92.3 %; range 80-96 %) [15,23,42,47]. Due to a limited number of high-quality studies it was not possible to calculate a pooled odds ratio; among the two highquality studies one found that men with PTSD were significantly more likely to perpetrate past year psychological partner violence compared to men without a mental disorder (OR 3.65 95 % CI 1.45-9.19) [47] but the other did not find any statistically significant difference between men with PTSD and those without a mental disorder (OR 1.90 95 % CI 0.55-6.52) [23].…”

“…They include witnessing and experiencing abuse in childhood, previous violence victimization and perpetration, social deprivation and substance misuse [14]. Occupationspecific risk factors have also been identified [15][16][17][18], with evidence suggesting length of deployment as a risk factor for domestic violence perpetration [19]. Similarly, combat stress is shown to be associated with domestic violence perpetration among active-duty military personnel [20], military veterans [21] and prisoners of war [22].…”