Abstract
Background: This study examined the degree to which combat-related guilt mediated the relations between exposure to combat-related abusive violence and both Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in Vietnam Veterans. Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted on data collected from 1,323 male Vietnam Veterans as part of a larger, multisite study. Results: Results revealed that combat-related guilt partially mediated the association between exposure to combat-related abusive violence and PTSD, but completely mediated the association with MDD, with overall combat exposure held constant in the model. Follow-up analyses showed that, when comparing those participants who actually participated in combat-related abusive violence with those who only observed it, combat-related guilt completely mediated the association between participation in abusive violence and both PTSD and MDD. Moreover, when comparing those participants who observed combat-related abusive violence with those who had no exposure at all to it, combat-related guilt completely mediated the association between observation of combat-related abusive violence and MDD, but only partially mediated the association with PTSD. Conclusions: These findings suggest that guilt may be a mechanism through which abusive violence is related to PTSD and MDD among combatdeployed Veterans. These findings also suggest the importance of assessing abusive-violence related guilt among combat-deployed Veterans and implementing relevant interventions for such guilt whenever indicated.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 287-293 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Depression and anxiety |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2010 |
Keywords
- Abusive violence
- Guilt
- Major depressive disorder
- Posttraumatic stress disorder
- Veterans
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health