Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in Croatian war veterans: retrospective study

Begić, Dražen and Jokić-Begić, Nataša (2007) Heterogeneity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in Croatian war veterans: retrospective study. Croatian Medical Journal, 48 (2). pp. 133-139. ISSN 0353-9504

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Abstract

AIM: To determine the relationship between the intensity of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the intensity of predominating symptoms. ----- METHOD: The study included 151 veterans from 1992-1995 war in Croatia (aged 38.3+/-7.3 years) with PTSD. The veterans were psychologically tested with the Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD (M-PTSD), Questionnaire on Traumatic Combat and War Experiences (USTBI-M), and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-version 201 (MMPI-201). ----- RESULTS: The discriminative analysis of the data revealed that the group with lower PTSD intensity had the highest scores on MMPI scales D (depression, T-score 98.3+/-5.6), Hs (hypochondriasis, 90.1+/-5.1), and Hy (hysteria, 89.5+/-4.9), whereas the group with higher PTSD intensity, besides these three scales (D=95.7+/-5.3; Hs=87.6+/-4.3; Hy=85.6+/-4.7), also had clinically significantly elevated Pt (psychastenia, 80.6+/-5.6), Sc (schizophrenia, 79.6+/-4.8), and Pa (paranoia, 85.6+/-5.4) scales, with the highest Pa scale. ----- CONCLUSION: It was possible to differentiate study participants with different PTSD intensity on the basis of their MMPI profile. More intense PTSD was associated with externalized symptoms, such as aggression, acting-out, hostility, and mistrust, whereas less intensive PTSD was associated with mostly depressive symptoms. Our study showed that different intensity of PTSD has different symptom patterns.

Abstract in Croatian

Cilj: Odrediti povezanost između intenziteta post-traumatskog stresnog sindroma povezanog s borbom i intenziteta prevladvajućih simptoma. ----- Postupci: U istraživanju je sudjelovao 151 veteran hrvatskog Domovinskog rata (u dobi od 38,3±7,3 godina). Veterani su testirani uz pomoć Mississippi ljestvice za PTSP uzrokovan borbom (Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD – M-PTSD), Upitnika o traumatskim borbenim i ratnim iskustvima (Questionnaire on Traumatic Combat and War Experiences – USTBI-M), i Minnesota multifazičnog inventara ličnosti – inačica 201 (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-version 201 – MMPI-201). ----- Rezultati: Diskriminativna raščlamba podataka pokazala je da je skupina s nižim intenzitetom PTSD-a imala najviši rezultat na ljestvicama MMPI D (depresija, T-score 95,7±5,6), Hs (hipohondrijaza, 87,6±5,1), i Hy (histerija, 85,6±4,9), dok je skupina s višim intenzitetom PTSP-a, uz ove tri ljestvice (D= 98,3±5,3; Hs= 90,1±4,3; Hy= 89,5±4,7) imala klinički značajno povišene rezultate na Pt (psihastenija, 80,6±5,6), Sc (shizofrenija, 79,6±4,8), i Pa (paranoja, 85,6±5.4) ljestvicama, pri čemu je Pa bila najviša. ----- Zaključak: Moguće je razlikovati ispitanike s različitim intenzitetom PTSP-a na osnovi njihovoga MMPI profila. Intenzivniji PTSP povezan je s eksternaliziranim simptomima kao što su agresija, izljevi bijesa i ljutnje, hostilnost, i nepovjerenje, dok je manje intenzivan PTSP uglavnom povezan s depresivnim simptomima. Naše istraživanje je pokazalo da različiti intenzitet PTSP-a ima različite simptomatske uzorke.

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