A study reported in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2006 compared rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in female veterans who had Military Sexual Trauma (MST) with rates of PTSD in women veterans with all other types of trauma. (The full title of the article is "DSM-IV Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women Veterans With and Without Military Sexual Trauma.")
Women subjects were recruited via health appointments and/or a mailing, and completed questionairres about their military service and their health and trauma history. The results were shocking: Ninety-two percent (92%) reported at least one (1) trauma. Forty-one percent (41%) had experienced MST, either alone or with other trauma, and 90% had other trauma, with or without MST. Overall, 43% of subjects with trauma had PTSD. And most importantly, those women veterans who had endured military sexual trauma had higher rates of PTSD. Sixty percent (60%) of those with MST had PTSD; 43% of subjects with other traumas (with or without MST) had PTSD. Military sexual trauma and other trauma both significantly predicted PTSD in regression analyses (P = .0001 and .02, respectively) but MST predicted it more strongly. Prior trauma did not contribute to the relationship between MST and PTSD.
The study concluded, "Findings suggest that Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is common and that it is a trauma especially associated with PTSD." To read the article itself, click here. (The citation for the study is: J Gen Intern Med. 2006;21(S3):S65-S69.)
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(Quoting from the study):
Rape is a violent crime with long-lasting consequences that is often perpetrated against women. At particular risk are women working within male-dominated environments such as the Armed Services, which, despite a recent influx of women, continue to be composed mainly of men.
National surveys found 13% to 30% of women veterans experienced rape during their military service. What is only beginning to be understood is the long-term impact that military sexual trauma (MST), such as rape, has on the lives of women veterans.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the known consequences of rape. In fact, rape is the trauma most highly correlated with the development of this disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder associated with rape is long lasting. Further, PTSD itself can cause impaired physical and social functioning. Most of what is known about rape and PTSD comes from the literature on civilian sexual trauma. Much less is known about the relationship between PTSD and MST. Previous studies examining the link between PTSD and MST have identified symptoms suggestive of PTSD or have created models connecting MST with the development of PTSD.
There is only one (1) study, to our knowledge, that examined rates of DSM-IV PTSD diagnoses in women veterans with MST. Suris et al., using a sample of female Veterans Administration (VA) patients, compared rates of PTSD related to 2 types of civilian sexual trauma with PTSD rates related to MST. They found that MST was more frequently traumatizing than civilian assault. Thus, the literature indicates that MST is more predictive of PTSD than are other types of military trauma or civilian sexual trauma.
