The impact of gender on the factor structure of PTSD symptoms among active duty United States military personnel

Abstract

ObjectivesGender has increasingly been looked at as an important variable in psychological research. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has long been recognized to have a greater incidence of occurrence in women than men. Factor analytic studies have generally supported the presence of a 4 factor model, although confirmatory factor analysis has acknowledged the influence of factor invariance. Recent studies have found wide variety in the symptom endorsement within samples of individuals diagnosed with PTSD. Invariance of PTSD factor structure across groups holds significant importance in terms of understanding underlying variation in factor structures as a function of type of traumas or gender. This study examined the impact of gender on PTSD factor structure. MethodsSubjects (n=16,146) were active duty military personnel who completed the 2005 Department of Defense (DoD) Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel (HRB). The study sample for this analysis included results from men (n=12,119) and women (n=4027) active duty military personnel over the age 18years who completed the HRB survey. Participants averaged M=31.3, SD=8.6years of age. ResultsResults found a four-factor solution fit best for both the group as a whole, and for men and women military personnel. However, the nature of the factors varied when gender was examined. ConclusionThe findings support how PTSD may present differently in men and women, and the need for examination of possible differing experiences of PTSD in populations of trauma survivors. The DSM-5 and potential changes in ICD-11 classifications increase the importance of how gender differences might be evidenced, and in how post trauma schema is manifested when gender is a consideration.