Effect of multimorbidity and psychosocial factors on posttraumatic stress symptoms among post-9/11 veterans.
Anthony J Longoria, Avery Horton, Alicia A Swan and 2 others
PMID 34726456WHAT IT FOUND
Veterans with pain, mental health, or brain injury comorbidities reported higher PTSD severity than healthy peers.
Self-efficacy, resilience, and social support explained nearly half the variance in PTSD symptoms. However, Black and Hispanic veterans reported greater PTSD severity than White veterans even with higher resilience and self-efficacy.
Key findings
01Veterans in Chronic, Pain, and PCT comorbidity trajectories reported significantly greater PTSD symptom severity compared to the Healthy trajectory.
02Psychosocial factors (resilience, self-efficacy, social support) together accounted for nearly 43% of the variance in PTSD symptom severity, with self-efficacy having the strongest association.
03Black and Hispanic veterans reported significantly greater PTSD symptom severity than White veterans, despite reporting relatively higher resilience and self-efficacy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot determine if psychosocial factors caused lower PTSD symptoms or if lower PTSD symptoms allowed for higher psychosocial functioning. The response rate was modest (21.7%), and respondents differed from non-respondents (older, more educated, more women), which may bias the results. The sample oversampled female veterans and focused on frequent VA healthcare users, limiting generalizability to all post-9/11 veterans. All measures were self-report, which is subject to response bias.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study used data from the Veterans Health Administration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that improving resilience or self-efficacy alone will reduce PTSD symptoms for Black and Hispanic veterans. The study found that these groups reported higher PTSD severity despite having higher scores in these protective factors, suggesting that systemic barriers or other unmeasured factors are driving the disparity.