Premorbid traumatic stress and veteran responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
J Trauma Stress
; 35(2): 559-569, 2022 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1549271
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented effects on lifestyle stability and physical and mental health. We examined the impact of preexisting posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and depression on biopsychosocial responses to the pandemic, including psychiatric symptoms, COVID-19 exposure, and housing/financial stability, among 101 U.S. military veterans enrolled in a longitudinal study of PTSD, a population of particular interest given veterans' trauma histories and defense-readiness training. Participants (83.2% male, 79.2% White, Mage = 59.28 years) completed prepandemic, clinician-administered psychiatric diagnostic interviews and a phone-based assessment between May and September 2020 using a new measure, the Rapid Assessment of COVID-19-Related Experiences (RACE), which was used to assess pandemic responses and its effects on mental and physical health; COVID-19 diagnosis and testing were also extracted from electronic medical records. Multivariate regressions showed that, controlling for demographic characteristics, prepandemic PTSD, ß = .332; p = .003, and AUD symptoms, ß = .228; p = .028, were associated with increased pandemic-related PTSD symptoms. Prepandemic AUD was associated with increased substance use during the pandemic, ß = .391; p < .001, and higher rates of self-reported or medical record-based COVID-19 diagnosis, ß = .264; p = .019. Minority race was associated with pandemic-related housing/financial instability, ß = -.372; p < .001, raising concerns of population inequities. The results suggest that preexisting PTSD and AUD are markers for adverse pandemic-related psychiatric outcomes and COVID-19 illness. These findings carry implications for the importance of targeting prevention and treatment efforts for the highest-risk individuals.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
/
Veterans
/
Alcoholism
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
J Trauma Stress
Journal subject:
Psychology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jts.22770
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