Chronicity. Adjustment differences of Vietnam combat veterans differing in rates of psychiatric hospitalization.

Abstract

The study focuses on the frequency of inpatient care for patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This factor, termed "chronicity," is, perhaps surprisingly, largely overlooked in many PTSD studies. The significance of chronicity was addressed through administration of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to Vietnam Theater and Era veterans in an inpatient psychiatry service. MMPI scores were analyzed for two main effects: combat exposure and chronicity (i.e., number of inpatient psychiatry admissions). The results replicated research showing combat exposure is associated with greater maladjustment (i.e., higher MMPI scores). Moreover, chronicity also emerged as a significantly important variable: of all groups compared, Vietnam combat veterans higher in chronicity scored higher on MMPI clinical scales, particularly on scales Paranoia, Psychasthenia, and Schizophrenia, thereby (a) empirically establishing (a) the methodological point that number of admissions must be controlled and (b) the substantive point that chronicity is important in studies of PTSD.