Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare three distinct United States (US) samples on traumatic events, dysfunctional coping styles and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The samples were: civilian (n = 97); non-combat military veterans (n=61) and combat military veterans (n = 91). An online survey was used to collect all the data. The average age across all participants was 29 years old. For the overall combined sample, three avoidance coping styles, venting, denial, and dark humor, were each positively related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Looking at differences between the three samples, the combat veteran sample had more traumatic events (TEs), with the most recent TE being longer ago, then the non-combat veteran and civilian samples. There were no sample differences in PTSD. However, the non-combat veteran sample had higher levels of denial, venting and dark humor in dealing with their most recent TE, than the other two samples. This research draws needed attention to helping non-combat military veterans cope in a more positive way with their most recent TE. Future research directions and study limitations are discussed.
Highlights
The 2019 United States (US) National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2019) found that military veteran suicides increased from 15.9 suicides per day in 2005 to 16.8 suicides per day in 2017
The strongest result was finding that the three avoidance coping styles of venting, denial and dark humor were highest for the non-combat military veteran group
Future study is needed on additional three-sample comparisons to test the generalizability of these findings.The results showed that the non-combat military veterans had higher avoidance coping, i.e., venting, denial, and dark humor, than the other two samples
Summary
The 2019 United States (US) National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2019) found that military veteran suicides increased from 15.9 suicides per day in 2005 to 16.8 suicides per day in 2017 Issues related to both sobering statistics include understanding how well a military veteran transitions to civilian life (Weiss, Rubin & Graeser, 2019). This transition can depend on such factors as: traumatic event(s) faced by a military veteran, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and coping style in dealing with the most recent traumatic event (Adams et al, 2019). The goal of this study was to compare the three samples on these variables, with the research question asking if there were significant differences between these samples on TE-related variables
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