Women Vietnam Veterans and Their Mental Health Adjustment: A Study of Their Experiences and Post-Traumatic Stress
Women Vietnam Veterans and Their Mental Health Adjustment: A Study of Their Experiences and Post-Traumatic Stress
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Publication or External Link
Date
1982
Authors
Schnaier, Jenny Ann
Advisor
Spokane, Arnold R.
Citation
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Abstract
Approximately 8,000-10,000 women served directly in the Vietnam
war. Popular literature and women's self-reports suggest that by virtue
of their exposure to extreme stressors resulting from war-time medical
experiences women veterans are now describing their stress symptoms,
and may be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The
intention of this preliminary, descriptive research was to assess the
nature and extent of mental health problems affecting female Vietnam
veterans. Subjects were contacted through a mailing list of a veterans
organization and 89 women who had served in Vietnam as medical personnel
completed a written questionnaire about their experiences and reactions
to them yielding a 97% return rate. The results indicated that approximately one-third of the stress symptom items were endorsed by 25% of the
subjects, and of symptoms first reported as having occurred between
homecoming and one year after Vietnam, approximately 70% were reported
as still present. These identified symptoms represented a fairly
complete picture of those specific symptoms and experiences of PTSD as
defined by DSM III of the A.P.A. This investigator concluded that, (a)
the current research effort has provided preliminary evidence that PTSD may be applicable to the experiences of women Vietnam veterans, (b)
there is evidence of mental health distress among the women sampled, (c)
there are positive, growthful experiences for many of the women in this
sample, and (d) at l east as far as biographical-demographical factors
are concerned, this sample of women Vietnam veterans are different from
previously studied male veterans.