Combat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Articles

PECULIARITIES OF ADAPTATION AND COURSE OF POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN SERVICEMEN DEPLOYED TO INTENSE COMBAT ZONES

In the context of war, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) emerges as one of the most prevalent psychological conditions, particularly among military personnel deployed in combat zones. The primary triggers for PTSD in military personnel often include the loss of comrades or the necessity to use lethal weapons, resulting in significant consequences. For PTSD to manifest, individuals must undergo a traumatic experience that exceeds normal human stress levels and leads to distress. The aim of this study is to investigate the course of PTSD in military personnel who have been exposed to intense combat operations and to explore their maladaptive manifestations. The study comprised 38 patients diagnosed with PTSD (F43.1) according to the ICD-10, who received treatment at the Regional Mental Health Care Institution for the Protection of the Armed Forces. All patients provided informed consent to participate in the study. A structured clinical diagnostic interview known as CAPS-DX was applied in this study. Developed based on the DSM-IV, this interview assesses the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the duration of the disorder, and the degree of impairment of social functioning. The CAPS-DX scale provided insights into the presence of PTSD symptoms both currently and throughout the individual's life following psychotrauma. To diagnose psychosocial maladjustment and its characteristics, we employed the Psychosocial Maladjustment Scale by L. Herasymenko (2018). Clinical and anamnestic examinations revealed that 86% of servicemen had experienced multiple traumatic events, indicating a history of several psychotraumas. The study identified that the primary psychopathological manifestations of PTSD did not differ significantly from the traditional course of the disorder, but they were more intense and pronounced in this group of servicemen. The study has demonstrated that servicemen with combat experience and PTSD exhibited reduced levels of psychosocial adaptation. Their adaptive resources and capabilities, as well as their neuropsychological stability, were significantly diminished, along with a decrease in their communication abilities. Based on the overall level and quality of social and psychological adaptation, three levels of adaptation/maladaptation were distinguished among servicemen with combat-related PTSD: sufficient, partial, or maladaptation. It should be noted that the levels of adaptation were correlated with the severity of anxiety. Servicemen with sufficient adaptation typically exhibited low levels of anxiety, while those with partial adaptation showed an average level, and those with maladaptation displayed high levels of anxiety. The study revealed a spectrum of psychopathological manifestations in servicemen who were in the combat zone, ranging from semiotic complexes resembling panic attacks to psychogenic catalepsy. Furthermore, it was found that servicemen with combat experience and post-traumatic stress disorder had reduced levels of psychosocial adaptation, which correlated with the severity of anxiety.

Deep brain stimulation of the amygdala for treatment-resistant combat post-traumatic stress disorder: Long-term results

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) holds promise for neuropsychiatric conditions where imbalance in network activity contributes to symptoms. Treatment-resistant Combat post-traumatic stress disorder (TR-PTSD) is a highly morbid condition and 50% of PTSD sufferers fail to recover despite psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy. Reminder-triggered symptoms may arise from inadequate top-down ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) control of amygdala reactivity. Here, we report long-term data on two TR-PTSD participants from an investigation utilizing high-frequency amygdala DBS. The two combat veterans were implanted bilaterally with quadripolar electrodes targeting the basolateral amygdala. Following a randomized staggered onset, patients received stimulation with adjustments based on PTSD symptom severity for four years while psychiatric and neuropsychiatric symptoms, neuropsychological performance, and electroencephalography were systematically monitored. Evaluation of vmPFC-Amygdala network engagement was assessed with 18FDG positron emission tomography (PET). CAPS-IV scores varied over time, but improved 55% from 119 at baseline to 53 at 4-year study endpoint in participant 1; and 44%, from 68 to 38 in participant 2. Thereafter, during 5 and 1.5 years of subsequent clinical care respectively, long-term bilateral amygdala DBS was associated with additional, clinically significant symptomatic and functional improvement. There were no serious stimulation-related adverse psychiatric, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, neurological, or neurosurgical effects. In one subject, symptomatic improvement was associated with an intensity-dependent reduction in amygdala theta frequency power. In our two participants, FDG-PET findings were inconclusive regarding the hypothesized mechanism of suppression of amygdala hyperactivity. Our findings encourage further research to confirm and extend our preliminary observations.

No replication of Alzheimer’s disease genetics as a moderator of the association between combat exposure and PTSD risk in 138,592 combat veterans

No replication of Alzheimer’s disease genetics as a moderator of the association between combat exposure and PTSD risk in 138,592 combat veterans

LATER-ADULTHOOD TRAUMA RE-ENGAGEMENT AMONG VIETNAM VETERANS: A COORDINATED ANALYSIS

Abstract Later-Adulthood Trauma Reengagement (LATR) is a framework for understanding the later-life emergence of trauma-related memories among aging veterans. LATR unfolds within the context of aging-related challenges such as retirement, physical decline, and bereavement. We developed a scale to assess LATR, the late-onset stress symptomatology short form (LOSS-SF). In this study, we compare the LOSS-SF scale across multiple samples of Vietnam veterans. Samples were surveyed between 2001 and 2020; all completed the LOSS-SF scale as well as measures of combat exposure and PTSD. We studied three male samples (256 repatriated US prisoners of war [RPW], 260 combat veterans [CV], and 507 deployed American Legion [AL] members) and one sample of 1956 women deployed to Vietnam, mostly nurses [WV]. Across samples, we examined three questions: 1) How prevalent is LATR? 2) Is LATR correlated with combat exposure and PTSD? 3) Using a regression framework, what factors (military characteristics, combat, PTSD) are related to LATR? Prevalence of LATR ranged from 5% to 38%. Mean LATR scores were higher among AL and CV samples than among the RPW and WV. LATR was modestly related to combat exposure (rs = .08 - .36) and moderately related to current PTSD symptoms (rs = .56 - .79). Regressions demonstrated the importance of PTSD to LATR across samples, and combat exposure was related to LATR only for WV. This study indicates that LATR varies across samples differing in gender and warzone experience and suggest further exploration of the overlap between PTSD and LATR among aging Vietnam veterans.

Проблемы и пути комплексной проработки последствий боевого стресса и боевых травм

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of theoretical approaches to understanding the intrapsychic mechanisms that generate combat stress and psychotrauma. This article draws the attention of specialists to the psychophysiological and individual-typical factors affecting the occurrence and course of combat PTSD. Theoretical analysis. The stages of research on the consequences of human participation in hostilities conducted over the past century are presented. Scientific views on the role of such innate properties of the nervous system as the strength of nervous processes, their balance and dynamism in the development of combat PTSD are considered. The significance of the type of human temperament in his reactions to specific combat stress is revealed. The role of plasticity of higher nervous activity as a factor of overcoming pathological environmental factors, including its application in the conditions of military events, is also revealed. Conclusion. In conclusion, the analysis of the factors of overcoming combat stress and psychotrauma manifested in the form of physiological and psychological dysfunctions, including individual factors that determine the mental reactions of participants in combat operations, is carried out. Conclusions are drawn about the most effective ways to correct the general functional state of the psyche and neuromuscular apparatus of the combatant.

Crossing the Rivers of the Tartarus: The Grief Process among Combat-Related PTSD Patients

The third stage of Pierre Janet’s model of trauma-focused treatment focuses on personality reintegration and rehabilitation and includes psychoeducation and hypnosis. According to the Jungian conceptualization presented herein, therapeutic work with combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients at this stage involves the completion of the grief process, during which there is a metaphoric descent to the underworld and a crossing of the rivers of the underworld, which represent complex emotional states. During the treatment of these patients, the therapist embodies, or personifies, the ancient Greek god Hermes, a psychopomp and mediator between different worlds who facilitates the healing process.

The relationship between combat exposure and suicide risk in U.S. military veterans: Exploring the role of posttraumatic stress symptoms and religious coping

BackgroundRising suicide rates in the U.S. veteran population are a growing concern. Combat exposure has been identified as a potential predictor of suicide risk, but factors that may mediate the relation between combat exposure and suicide risk, and the role of potential coping mechanisms remain largely understudied. To address this gap, this study examined the association between lifetime combat exposure and current suicide risk; whether this association is mediated by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; and whether direct and/or indirect associations with combat exposure are moderated by organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic religiosity. MethodsData were analyzed from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (2019–2020; n = 3843). Ordinary least squares and conditional process analyses were conducted to evaluate the conditional direct and indirect predictors of suicide risk. ResultsPTSD symptoms significantly mediated the association between combat exposure and suicide risk. Intrinsic religiosity showed significant moderation and reduced the coefficient of PTSD symptoms predicting suicide risk but increased the coefficient of combat exposure predicting PTSD symptoms. LimitationsIn this cross-sectional, observational study, no conclusions can be made regarding causality. ConclusionsResults of this study suggest a multifaceted relationship between combat exposure, PTSD, religiosity/spirituality, and suicide risk in U.S. veterans, and underscore the importance of PTSD and religious coping as part of ongoing suicide prevention efforts in this population.

An Executive Functioning Composite Does Not Moderate the Relationship Between Combat Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Clusters.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is prevalent among U.S. combat Veterans, and associated with poor health and wellbeing. As combat experiences are likely to significantly modify self-, other-, and society-oriented cognitions and heighten risk for PTSD, examination of related cognitive processes may yield new treatment strategies. The cognitive model of PTSD suggests that persistent threat perceptions contribute to symptom worsening. Thus, cognitive processes of shifting perspectives or generating novel interpretations may be particularly relevant to lessen PTSD symptoms. This cross-sectional study examined executive functioning as a moderator to the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD symptom clusters among post-9/11 Veterans. Data from 168 Veterans were drawn from a larger study examining post-deployment mental health and cognitive function. An executive functioning composite derived from Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Perseveration Errors, WAIS-III Similarities, Trail Making Test B, and Stroop Color-Word Inhibition scores was computed. Path analysis was used to test the moderation model. After accounting for age, sex, and estimated premorbid functioning, results indicated that combat exposure was associated with all symptom clusters on the PTSD Checklist-Military. Executive functioning was not significantly associated with the PTSD symptom clusters and did not moderate the relationship between combat exposure and any of the PTSD symptom clusters. Combat exposure is an important dimension of risk related to PTSD in Veterans that warrants regular screening. Moderation by executive functioning was not observed despite theoretical support. Future work could test methodological and sampling reasons for this finding to determine if theoretical adjustment is necessary.

Personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (prtms®) for post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) in military combat veterans

Emerging data suggest that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arises from disrupted brain default mode network (DMN) activity manifested by dysregulated encephalogram (EEG) alpha oscillations. Hence, we pursued the treatment of combat veterans with PTSD (n = 185) using an expanded form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) termed personalized-rTMS (PrTMS). In this treatment methodology spectral EEG based guidance is used to iteratively optimize symptom resolution via (1) stimulation of multiple motor sensory and frontal cortical sites at reduced power, and (2) adjustments of cortical treatment loci and stimulus frequency during treatment progression based on a proprietary frequency algorithm (PeakLogic, Inc. San Diego) identifying stimulation frequency in the DMN elements of the alpha oscillatory band. Following 4 - 6 weeks of PrTMS® therapy in addition to routine PTSD therapy, veterans exhibited significant clinical improvement accompanied by increased cortical alpha center frequency and alpha oscillatory synchronization. Full resolution of PTSD symptoms was attained in over 50% of patients. These data support DMN involvement in PTSD pathophysiology and suggest a role in therapeutic outcomes. Prospective, sham controlled PrTMS® trials may be warranted to validate our clinical findings and to examine the contribution of DMN targeting for novel preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies tailored to the unique needs of individual patients with both combat and non-combat PTSD.

Enjoying the violence of war: Association with posttraumatic symptomatology in U.S. combat veterans.

Engaging in war-related violence can have a devastating impact on military personnel, with research suggesting that injuring or killing others can contribute to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and moral injury. However, there is also evidence that perpetrating violence in war can become pleasurable to a substantial number of combatants and that developing this "appetitive" form of aggression can diminish PTSD severity. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from a study of moral injury in U.S., Iraq, and Afghanistan combat veterans, to examine the impact of recognizing that one enjoyed war-related violence on outcomes of PTSD, depression, and trauma-related guilt. Three multiple regression models evaluated the impact of endorsing the item, "I came to realize during the war that I enjoyed violence" on PTSD, depression, and trauma-related guilt, after controlling for age, gender, and combat exposure. Results indicated that enjoying violence was positively associated with PTSD, β (SE) = 15.86 (3.02), p < .001, depression, β (SE) = 5.41 (0.98), p < .001, and guilt, β (SE) = 0.20 (0.08), p < .05. Enjoying violence moderated the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD symptoms, β (SE) = -0.28 (0.15), p < .05, such that there was a decrease in the strength of the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD in the presence of endorsing having enjoyed violence. Implications for understanding the impact of combat experiences on postdeployment adjustment, and for applying this understanding to effectively treating posttraumatic symptomatology, are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Mental Health of the Individual in the Conditions of Martial Law

The article presents the results of a study of the peculiarities of the mental health of an individual in the conditions of martial law. The article describes the main factors of the military state that cause mental injuries and their psychological consequences for military personnel. Some aspects of human behavior in emergency situations and military operations are distinguished. The positive, neutral and negative vectors of the influence of psychological factors of war on the participants of the war were identified and their content was revealed. The relevance of the study is determined by the course of recent events in Ukraine, in particular, Russia's wars against the Ukrainian people. The adaptive and maladaptive factors of the nature of adaptive psychological qualities that are formed in combatants in the conditions of military affairs as aspects of the neuropsychological manifestation of personality are characterized. The situation of the psychological return of combatants to peaceful living conditions was separately considered and the need to organize appropriate measures for social and psychological rehabilitation was substantiated. Data on foreign approaches and experience of such rehabilitation of war veterans are presented. Current problems of psychological diagnosis of combat post-traumatic stress disorder are considered. The importance of the formation of mental health during the war is emphasized. The purpose of the article is to study the mental health of an individual in the conditions of martial law as an aspect of neuropsychological perception of reality. In the research process, the method of analysis, synthesis, research and scientific method was used. The result of the study is the determination of the characteristics of the neuropsychological state of the individual in the conditions of martial law.

Use of Virtual Reality Techniques to Rehabilitate Military Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Review).

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder developing after a traumatic event like participation in combat activities. Objective diagnosis of combat PTSD and effective rehabilitation of war veterans is a current multifaceted problem with particularly high social costs. This review aims to evaluate the potential of virtual reality technique used as exposure therapy tool (VRET) to rehabilitate combat veterans and service members with PTSD. The review was written following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The final analysis includes 75 articles published in 2017-2022. VRET therapeutic effect mechanisms were examined along with protocols and scenarios of VRET combined with other interventions influencing PTSD treatment like pharmacotherapy, motion-assisted multi-modular memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR), transcranial magnetic stimulation. The necessity is substantiated of psychophysiological measurements for objectification of PTSD clinical criteria and its dynamics during treatment. It was shown that inclusion of VRET to the package of PTSD rehabilitation interventions positively affects the results due to the enhanced effect of presence and greater experience personalization. Thus, VRET may be an effective, controlled, and cost-effective alternative for PTSD treatment in combatants, including those not responding to conventional therapy.

The roles of personality and resilience in associations between combat experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder among Canadian Armed Forces Veterans

Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans encounter unique challenges associated with their service. Exposure to service-related traumatic events places them at risk for developing adverse mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Our research aimed to assess whether the HEXACO personality model and resilience impacted associations between combat experiences and PTSD symptomatology in CAF Veterans in the past month. We recruited a sample of 245 CAF Veterans (81 % men; Mage = 48.47, SDage = 10.34) to complete a battery of questionnaires. PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with more combat experience, lower resilience, lower extraversion, higher emotionality, and lower agreeableness. However, personality traits did not moderate the relationship between combat experiences and PTSD symptoms. Overall, this research can be used to enhance researchers' and clinicians' understanding of personality traits as risk and protective factors for PTSD symptoms.

Medical cannabis for treatment-resistant combat PTSD.

Targeting the endocannabinoid system may have a role in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few studies have examined the effectiveness of cannabis on symptoms of PTSD, and more research is needed to ascertain cannabis' effectiveness. In this retrospective naturalistic study, we followed 14 relatively mature (32-68 years of age), treatment-resistant, chronic combat post-traumatic patients who remained severely symptomatic despite treatment with many lines of conventional treatment prior to receiving medicinal cannabis. Our findings show that total sleep score, subjective sleep quality, and sleep duration significantly improved (p < 0.01). Total PTSD symptom score and its subdomains (intrusiveness, avoidance, and alertness) showed improvement (p < 0.05). However, there was no improvement in the frequency of nightmares (p = 0.27). The mean follow-up time was 1.1 ± 0.8 years (range of 0.5 to 3 years).

An archetypal approach to treating combat post-traumatic stress disorder

Jungian model of psychotherapeutic work with veterans is presented. Universal – archetypal – topics evident in the traditions of many warrior cultures are singled out: acceptance of one’s destiny as a warrior, making peace with the dead or killed, restoration of honour to the enemy, etc.; moral and spiritual traumas of war are discussed. A relatively low value of emotional catharsis in the clinical perspective of trauma is stressed – together with the importance of witnessing the experience of trauma from the side of a non-joudgmental and devoted person. Concentration on a mere eradication of a symptom is shown as a reductionist attidude of a professional and such that is experienced as disrespectful and immoral from the side of a veteran. The task of a health care professional is described as acceptance of a «shadow» side of a warrior’s drives, of the reality of evil and destruction but beyond the context of epistemologic or psychiatric frames. Meanwhile, being diagnosed with PTSD leads, in the author’s opinion, to social marginalization of a veteran together with civil society impotence as «a psychic disease» is to be treated by health care professionals. Posttraumatic symptoms are viewed in the context of a psychic function that they can play as well as a call to «the warrior’s path», a moral and spiritual journey of a veteran to a deepened and more engaged life. Following Jung, the author offers to use the experience of individuation that includes psychological spaciousness, self-acceptance, greater responsibility for their conduct, and a meaningful position in the wider society. The understandable, but misguided strategy evident in the western society to adoin discussions about war is highlighted. The author warns that undivided traumatic experience may influence the warrior indirectly causing intergenerational breakdown and persistent dissociated trauma.

The effectiveness of high-tone therapy in the complex rehabilitation of servicemen with post-traumatic stress disorder complicated by traumatic brain injury.

As a result of local military conflicts that have become more frequent over the past decades, the number of military personnel subjected to combat stress has sharply increased. More than 50% of them suffer from combat posttraumatic stress disorder. The most common comorbidity in this category of patients is a traumatic brain injury. Due to the undesirability of the long-term use of pharmacological agents, for rehabilitation, preference should be given to physiotherapeutic procedures. We examined 50 patients with post-traumatic stress disorder in combination with a closed craniocerebral injury. Group 1-25 patients received standard complex treatment at the sanatoriumresort rehabilitation stage (diet therapy, climatotherapy, balneotherapy, exercise therapy, psychotherapy). Group 2-25 patients, in addition to the standard complex treatment, received a course of high-tone therapy. Complex rehabilitation of patients with the use of high-tone therapy contributes to a significant decrease in astheno-neurotic (p < 0.05) and asthenic depressive (p < 0.01) syndromes and has a psycho-relaxing effect on anxiety syndrome (p < 0.01). There was also a decrease in the severity of pyramidal symptoms and regression of the vestibulo-atactic syndrome (p < 0.05). The course application of hightone therapy was accompanied by a significant restoration of the elastotonic properties of the vascular wall and an improvement in cerebral perfusion (p < 0.05). Positive dynamics of electrophysiological indicators were noted: a decrease in the intensity of slow rhythms against the background of an increase in the frequency and intensity of the alpha rhythm in both hemispheres (p < 0.05), which indicates the harmonization of the bioelectrical activity of the brain.

Depth Psychology Conceptualization of Trauma-Focused Treatment for Patients with Combat-Related PTSD: Joining the Therapeutic Quest and Alchemy

Evidence-based psychological treatments of combat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) focus on well-organized protocols whose aim is symptom resolution. However, these protocols do not address either the patient’s subjective experience or to the therapist’s role during such treatments. According to the depth psychology perspective presented herein, combat PTSD patients are heroes whose quest was to serve their country, but their encounter with the dragon left them with psychic and spiritual deadness. During the treatment of such patients, the therapist the therapist embodies, or personifies, the ancient Greek god, Hermes, who helps the patient to acquire the necessary skills for the therapeutic quest. In this quest, the therapist symbolizes aliveness and is the generator of an alchemical change.

Limitations of benefit finding as a coping mechanism for combat-related PTSD symptoms

ABSTRACT Benefit finding has been identified as a buffer of the combat exposure-PTSD symptom link in soldiers. However, benefit finding may have a limited buffering capacity on the combat-PTSD symptom link over the course of a soldier’s post-deployment recovery period. In the present study, soldiers returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) were surveyed at two different time periods post-deployment: Time 1 was 4 months post-deployment (n = 1,510), and Time 2 was at 9 months post-deployment (n = 783). The surveys assessed benefit finding, PTSD symptoms, and combat exposure. Benefit finding was a successful buffer of the cross-sectional relationship between combat exposure and PTSD reexperiencing symptoms at Time 1, but not at Time 2. In addition, the benefit finding by combat interaction at time 1 revealed that greater benefit finding was associated with higher symptoms under high combat exposure at Time 2 after controlling for PTSD arousal symptoms at Time 1. The results of the present study indicate that benefit finding may have a buffering capacity in the immediate months following a combat deployment, but also indicates that more time than is allotted during the post-deployment adjustment period is needed to enable recovery from PTSD. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Plasma lipidomics in subjects with combat posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is complex neuropsychiatric disorder triggered by a traumatic event and characterized by the symptoms that represent large burden to patients, as well as to society. Lipidomic approach can be applied as a useful tool for discovery of novel diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic lipid biomarkers of various disorders, whose etiology is complex and still unknown, including PTSD. Since changes in the levels of lipid metabolites might indicate impairments in various metabolic pathways and cellular processes, the aim of this lipidomic study was to determine altered levels of lipid compounds in PTSD. The study enrolled 235 male patients with combat PTSD and 241 healthy male control subjects. Targeted lipidomic analysis of plasma samples was conducted using reverse-phase liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Lipids that have been analyzed belong to the group of ceramides, cholesterol esters, diacylglycerols, lysophosphatidylcholines, lysophosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, sphingomyelins and triglycerides. The levels of fifteen lipid compounds were found to be significantly different between PTSD patients and healthy control subjects, including four phosphatidylcholines, two phosphatidylethanolamines, five sphingomyelins, two cholesterol esters and two ceramides. The lipid metabolites whose levels significantly differed between patients with PTSD and control subjects are associated with various biological processes, including impairments of membrane integrity and function, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation and oxidative stress. As these processes might be associated with development and progression of PTSD, altered lipid compounds represent potential biomarkers that could facilitate the diagnosis of PTSD, prediction of the disease, as well as identification of novel treatment approaches in PTSD.

Associations of combat exposure and parental locus of control in deployed mothers and fathers

AbstractObjectiveRelying upon the military family stress model, we evaluated the associations between combat exposure, PTSD symptoms, and parental locus of control (PLOC) among mothers and fathers with history of deployment, using a multigroup analysis.BackgroundFew studies have investigated the correlates of deployment‐related stressors for deployed mothers and none have examined perceptions of parenting efficacy. The relationship between combat exposure and PTSD symptoms may differ by gender.MethodThe sample (421 fathers and 117 mothers) was selected by combining baseline data from two distinct randomized controlled trials of a parenting program for post‐deployed military families: ADAPT and ADAPT 4 U (Gewirtz et al., 2018a).ResultsOur analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of PTSD symptoms between combat exposure and PLOC, among deployed parents, with no gender differences in the indirect effect.ConclusionRelationships between combat exposure, PTSD symptoms, and PLOC support a military family stress model, and highlight the need to support parents with PTSD symptoms because PTSD symptoms appear to be a mechanism through which combat exposure affects parenting beliefs and perceptions.ImplicationsPrevention and intervention research should focus on how parenting programs might help to reduce PTSD symptoms and improve parental perceptions of efficacy, confidence, and control.