Table 1.
Demographic and Military Service Characteristics and Psychiatric Disorders Among Study Participants According to PTSD Trajectory or Status
| PTSD trajectory or status
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | No PTSD (n = 3,560) % |
Early recovery (n = 171) % |
Late recovery (n = 122) % |
Late onset (n = 195) % |
Chronic (n = 90) % |
p |
| Age in years (1992) | .002 | |||||
| ≤39 | 19.4 | 20.7 | 23.0 | 31.6 | 25.2 | |
| 40–41 | 14.3 | 20.2 | 20.7 | 19.7 | 18.6 | |
| 42–43 | 24.3 | 32.9 | 32.8 | 26.0 | 24.6 | |
| ≥44 | 42.0 | 26.2 | 23.5 | 22.7 | 31.6 | |
| Race | .002 | |||||
| White | 89.0 | 85.1 | 91.5 | 76.1 | 77.6 | |
| Non-White | 11.0 | 14.9 | 8.5 | 23.9 | 22.4 | |
| Marital status (1992) | .083 | |||||
| Married/widowed | 75.2 | 81.7 | 68.6 | 70.1 | 69.9 | |
| Divorced | 17.2 | 15.7 | 22.2 | 23.6 | 13.8 | |
| Never married | 7.6 | 2.6 | 9.2 | 6.3 | 16.3 | |
| Education (1992) | .001 | |||||
| <HS graduate | 3.1 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 10.6 | 1.5 | |
| HS graduate | 31.3 | 37.8 | 33.0 | 22.9 | 39.0 | |
| Some college/vocational | 36.0 | 35.4 | 37.9 | 48.6 | 45.2 | |
| College graduate or more | 29.6 | 23.7 | 21.1 | 17.9 | 14.3 | |
| Employment (1992) | <.001 | |||||
| Fulltime | 94.1 | 94.4 | 86.4 | 87.6 | 88.6 | |
| Part time | 1.5 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 0.0 | 4.1 | |
| Unemployed | 4.4 | 4.0 | 11.2 | 12.4 | 7.3 | |
| Branch of service | .001 | |||||
| Army | 53.3 | 45.2 | 61.0 | 59.6 | 61.8 | |
| Navy | 22.2 | 20.1 | 18.5 | 14.7 | 11.7 | |
| Air Force | 15.9 | 11.1 | 11.2 | 12.0 | 5.0 | |
| Marines | 8.6 | 23.6 | 9.3 | 13.7 | 18.4 | |
| Enlistment year | .321 | |||||
| <1968 | 41.8 | 34.8 | 22.1 | 31.7 | 41.7 | |
| 1968–1969 | 26.6 | 34.2 | 27.1 | 27.6 | 26.1 | |
| >1969 | 31.6 | 31.0 | 39.8 | 40.8 | 32.2 | |
| Rank at discharge | .039 | |||||
| Enlisted | 92.8 | 96.9 | 99.0 | 99.6 | 100.0 | |
| Officer | 7.2 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | |
| Age at enlistment | <.001 | |||||
| <18 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 12.2 | 13.4 | 17.2 | |
| 18 | 19.3 | 33.0 | 15.6 | 23.9 | 20.2 | |
| 19 | 31.4 | 32.8 | 35.2 | 36.4 | 34.8 | |
| ≥20 | 43.5 | 27.2 | 37.1 | 26.3 | 27.7 | |
| Service in Southeast Asia | <.001 | |||||
| No | 63.4 | 37.5 | 43.1 | 49.3 | 30.0 | |
| Yes | 36.6 | 62.5 | 56.6 | 50.7 | 70.0 | |
| Lifetime psychiatric disorder in (1992) | ||||||
| MDD | <.001 | |||||
| No | 93.3 | 81.8 | 56.9 | 86.1 | 47.7 | |
| Yes | 6.7 | 18.2 | 43.1 | 13.9 | 52.3 | |
| AUD | .006 | |||||
| No | 48.3 | 30.3 | 30.3 | 40.9 | 31.8 | |
| Yes | 51.7 | 69.7 | 69.7 | 59.1 | 68.2 | |
| SUD | <.001 | |||||
| No | 92.3 | 77.1 | 74.9 | 76,8 | 72.7 | |
| Yes | 7.7 | 22.9 | 25.1 | 23.2 | 27.3 | |
| GAD | <.001 | |||||
| No | 99.1 | 94.6 | 86.6 | 98.0 | 86.1 | |
| Yes | 0.9 | 5.4 | 13.4 | 2.0 | 13.9 | |
Note. The PTSD group counts of veterans were unweighted; however, estimates were adjusted for nonresponse and to the 2010 Vietnam-era population. The Pearson χ2 statistic was corrected for weighting design and converted to an F statistic. PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder; HS = high school; MDD = major depressive disorder; AUD = alcohol use disorder; SUD = substance use disorder; GAD = generalized anxiety disorder.