Comorbidity of psychiatric disorders and personality profiles of American World War II prisoners of war

Article Abstract:

Prisoners of war (POWs) are commonly diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, psychosomatic disorders, and adjustment disorders. There has been little work done, however, on the comorbidity, or correlation, of these disorders with personality profiles of POWs. Knowing more about these relationships in POWs would aid in understanding all groups who have been exposed to trauma. Sixty-two former POWs were identified and were assessed for psychiatric illness based upon the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Subjects was also administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) for an assessment of personality characteristics. Fifty percent of the sample met the criteria for PTSD after discharge from the service, and 29 percent met the criteria at the time of the study. Generalized anxiety disorder was a common complaint both before and after military service. Depression was a frequent complaint (in 61 percent of those with current PTSD), and less common but significant were complaints of alcohol dependency or abuse, organic mental disorder, schizophrenia, and intestinal problems related to psychological stress. When compared with other groups, POWs with chronic PTSD had the highest scores (indicating more mental disease) on the MMPI sections, indicating suppression of feelings and denial, followed by POWs who had recovered from PTSD, POWs with no psychiatric history, and normal controls, in that order. This is suggestive of a correlation between suppression and denial as personality styles and poor outcome in POWs, and possibly in people subjected to trauma in general. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Statistics, Psychology, Pathological, Psychopathology

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Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms among former prisoners of war

Article Abstract:

Studies of former prisoners of war (POWs) have provided insight into the effects of harsh captivity and adaptation after trauma. While psychological growth has been experienced by some POWs, for the most part, having been a POW has been associated with an increased rate of psychiatric problems. In the present paper, depressive symptoms suffered by former POWs were examined using data from the Medical Follow-up Agency of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, an agency that has collected data on the health of former POWs since the early 1950s; self-report questionnaires were also administered. Three groups of POWs were evaluated: World War II POWs from Pacific stations (476 subjects), from European stations (271 subjects), and 572 former POWs from the Korean conflict. Depressive symptoms were elevated in all three groups and were strongly associated with treatment during captivity. More severe treatment in captivity, which was measured by medical problems and symptoms during that period, were related to higher rates of depression post-captivity. Also, younger age, less education, and single marital status at the time of captivity all correlated with higher depression scores. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Depression, Mental, Depression (Mood disorder), Stress (Psychology)

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Assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder in World War II veterans

Article Abstract:

The Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M-PTSD), the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Pk PTSD scale can predict PTSD defined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R, in World War II veterans. The comparative validities of the three scales are similar to those in Vietnam veterans. All the three scales have a one-factor loading. Changes in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV PTSD criteria minimally affect the results.

Diagnosis, World War II, 1939-1945, Veterans, Psychological tests

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