POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEATER AND NON-THEATER VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM ERA: SERVICE, RACE, AND SYMPTOM IMPLICATIONS (GROUND TROOP)

The Problem. This trend analysis was conducted to determine whether trends had changed in the prevalence and severity of problems being presented by different racial groups of Vietnam veterans between 1980 and 1984. More specifically, the purpose was to examine the relationships among race, type of service experience (Vietnam ground troops, non-ground troops or era troops), year applying for veterans' services, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms and severity.;Results. The findings suggest that Vietnam ground troops had more problems than Vietnam non-ground troops and that Vietnam non-ground troops had more problems than Vietnam era troops relative to post-trauma stress. Also suggested was that whites had more residual problems from the war, yet blacks and other races had more severe problems when applying for veterans' services. The prevalence of all problems, over the years, when all races and veteran groups were combined, had changed. Fear/anxiety, nightmares/flashbacks, and suicide/homicide ideation or acts had increased and alcohol/drug problems had decreased. Whites had a higher prevalence of nightmares/flashbacks and alcohol/drug problems than blacks or other minority races. In the analysis of variance, only fear/anxiety showed a difference in severity by race. Blacks and other minority races had a higher severity of fear/anxiety than whites.;Method. A comparative longitudinal trend analysis was used to examine the trend of prevalence and severity over the years for each problem area studied: fear/anxiety, nightmares/flashbacks, alcohol/drugs, and suicide/homicide ideation or acts. Three thousand cases were examined; 1,839 cases were complete enough to use in the study. Of these, 52.5 percent were Vietnam ground troops, 22.4 percent were Vietnam non-ground troops, and 25.1 percent were Vietnam era troops. Sixty-nine percent were white, 18.3 percent were black, and 12.7 percent were of other minority races.