The Relationship Between Ptsd Symptoms, Social And Mental Health Factors, And Quality Of Life Outcomes In A Sample Of African-American Women Combat Veterans
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Date
2014
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Department
Social Work
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Doctor of Philosophy
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This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore how trauma exposure during combat deployment, PTSD symptoms and other mental health factors, affected the Quality of Life (QOL) in a sample of African American women combat veterans. Most early and current research on combat trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) placed focus on male samples. The majority of these studies examined factors related to how male combat Vietnam veterans responded to war-related trauma. With growing numbers of women in the military, there has been a mounting concern with women's experiences due to the detrimental impact that combat trauma has on mental health. This study focused on African American women veterans who served in Post- Gulf War conflicts, with a focus on Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Many women in this population rarely identify themselves as veterans outside of the Veteran's Administration. The researcher explored the experiences of women who are uncomfortable with major societal institutions because of their experiences during combat deployment. The major research hypotheses were: there would be significant relationships between (1) age, (2) socio-economic status, (3) substance abuse history, (4) post-traumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms, (5) type of trauma exposure and quality of life outcomes for African American women combat veterans. ANOVA, Linear Regression, and General Linear Models were used to analyze women's responses to self-reported measures of traumatic military experiences and their quality of life. The bivariate analyses indicated that four of the five independent variables were significantly associated with quality of life outcomes. The variables were: socioeconomic status, substance abuse, PTSD symptoms, and trauma exposure. On the other hand, multivariate analyses demonstrated that, with respect to importance of QOL, none of the independent variables remained significant after controlling for the other variables (p-values >.05). Regarding satisfaction with QOL, only PTSD symptoms remained a significant predictor after controlling for all of the other variables. The results of the study provided pivotal information regarding how certain variables contribute to the quality of life of African American servicewoman. This study provides a framework for policy development, program development, military protocol, and mental health treatment of these servicewomen.