| Summary: | A comparative study of 210 Vietnam Era veterans who are currently serving in the U.S. military Reserves. Two major groups--Vietnam combat veterans and Vietnam Era veterans with no combat experience--were compared on measures of depression, anxiety, problems with family relations, and alcohol abuse. Incidence of post-traumatic stress disorders symptomatology as described in the DSM-III was evaluated within the group of combat veterans. === A simple additive model which describes a direct and positive relationship between degree of combat exposure and current incidence of problems with adult psychosocial functioning was shown to be inadequate. Preservice psycho-social problem levels were shown to be a more important predictor of post-combat difficulties than the degree of exposure to combat in Vietnam. === There were no statistically significant and nontrivial differences between combat veterans and non-combat veterans on each of the measures of adult psycho-social functioning. Although a large proportion of combat veterans reported a high level of problems shortly after their tenure in Vietnam, the incidence of problems had decreased dramatically over the years since Vietnam. The findings contradict past claims that post-traumatic stress disorder represents an ongoing, severe problem for large numbers of Vietnam veterans. === Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-02, Section: A, page: 0658. === Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.
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