Posttraumatic stress disorder in male and female Dutch Resistance veterans of World War II in relation to trait anxiety and depression

• Published in: Psychological reports Vol. 74; no. 1; p. 275
• Main Authors: Hovens, J E, Falger, P R, Op den Velde, W, De Groen, J H, Van Duijn, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.1994
• Subjects: Aged; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Anxiety Disorders - psychology; Combat Disorders - diagnosis; Combat Disorders - psychology; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Gender Identity; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Netherlands; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Veterans - psychology; Warfare; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0033-2941
• DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1994.74.1.275

In this study, 680 male and 144 female Dutch Resistance veterans of World War II were evaluated on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, trait anxiety, and depression. Approximately 27% of these men and 20% of these women showed current Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Resistance veterans, as a group, appeared comparable to the controls from Dutch validation studies on trait anxiety and depression. Gender differences were not observed. Veterans with current PTSD symptoms scored higher on trait anxiety and depression than the remaining veterans and were comparable on trait anxiety and depression to psychiatric patients. Correlational analyses showed that there was a strong association between trait anxiety and depression. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder correlated highly with trait anxiety and depression.