Childhood trauma exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan war era veterans: Implications for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and adult functional social support

• Published in: Child abuse & neglect 2012-05, Vol.36 (5), p.423-432
• Main Authors: Van Voorhees, Elizabeth E, Dedert, Eric A, Calhoun, Patrick S, Brancu, Mira, Runnals, Jennifer, Beckham, Jean C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Adults; Afghan Campaign 2001; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Avoidance Learning; Avoidance/numbing; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Abuse; Child abuse & neglect; Child Abuse - psychology; Child development; Child support; Child, Preschool; Combat Disorders - etiology; Female; Humans; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Military Personnel; Nonparametric Statistics; Pediatrics; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Regression (Statistics); Sampling; Social Support; Social Support Groups; Statistical Inference; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Trauma; US veterans; Veterans; Veterans - psychology; Victimology
• ISSN: 0145-2134; 1873-7757
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.03.004

Abstract Objective This study examined the relationship among childhood trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and adult social support in a large sample of veterans who served in the military after 09/11/2001, with a specific focus on the potential role of the PTSD avoidance and numbing cluster as intervening in the association between childhood abuse and adult functional social support. Method Participants were 1,301 veterans and active duty soldiers who have served in the military since 09/11/2001; a subsample of these participants ( n = 482) completed an inventory of current functional social support. Analyses included linear regression and nonparametric bootstrapping procedures. Results After controlling for combat exposure, exposure to childhood trauma was associated with PTSD symptoms in adulthood. Further, PTSD symptoms, and particularly PTSD avoidance/numbing cluster symptoms, intervened in the relationship between childhood trauma and adult functional social support. Conclusions Findings support the association of childhood trauma (both abuse related and other, non-abuse related trauma) with PTSD symptoms in military personnel and veterans, even after accounting for combat exposure. Additionally, the avoidance and numbing symptom cluster of childhood trauma-based PTSD may be particularly salient in compromising one's subsequent ability to garner functional social support in adulthood.