Basic psychometric markers of post-traumatic stress disorder in combatants

Abstract

In the study, the authors determined psychometric markers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combatants. The study was conducted during 2016—2018, 150 military personnel were examined. The sample was formed by the criterion of the PTSD presence/absence in combatants. Two groups of comparison were formed: the group 1 consisted of 93 persons with diagnosis of PTSD (F43.1) according to the ICD-10 criteria; the group 2 consisted of 57 conditionally healthy persons (without signs of PTSD). All the examined persons were men, their average age was 33.71 ± 1.34 years old. They were mainly sergeants and privates of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), who served under the contract, the average duration of their participation in military actions was 214.7 ± 41.55 days. Research methods: clinical-psychopathological, clinical-anamnestic, psychodiagnostics ones: Mississippian Scale of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (military version) (T. M. Keane et al., 1987); Questionnaire for the Severity of Psychopathological Symptoms (SCL- 90-R) (L. R. Derogatis et al., 1977, adapted by V. Starcevic et al., 2000); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (A. S. Zigmond, R. P. Snaith, 1983); The Scale of the Clinical Assessment of the Severity of Violations by Y. I. Levin (1995). The results of the investigation expanded the information on the mental status of the AFU combatants who took part in the military actions in the East of Ukraine, by means of quantified assessment of PTSD symptoms. An important component of the rehabilitation of combatants with PTSD is the establishment of an appropriate therapeutic environment the against patient-based approach in order to potentiate the psychological, psychotherapeutic work aimed at restoring the interrelations of combatants at the level of micro- and macroenvironment. Key words: combatants, post-traumatic stress disorder, post-stress mental disorder, combat mental trauma