Faculty Publications

Race, Gender, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the US Military: Differential Vulnerability?

Document Type

Article

Keywords

military, post-traumatic stress disorder, gender, race, trauma

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Armed Forces & Society

Volume

43

Issue

2

First Page

322

Last Page

345

Abstract

U.S. service women were exposed to more combat-related trauma in recent wars compared to prior conflicts and consequently faced an increased risk of trauma-related mental health outcomes. In this study, we examined gender by race differences in self-reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and clinician diagnoses in a large sample of U.S. Black and White service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, to determine whether women overall and Black women in particular are at an increased risk of PTSD compared to Black and White men. Using three PTSD measures—two symptom-based measures assessed at different times and one diagnosis measure—we found more traumatic combat exposures were associated with higher PTSD risk for service women compared to service men, but there was no additional increase in risk of PTSD for Black females.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

7-27-2016

DOI of published version

10.1177/0095327X16652610

Link to Full Text

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