Public stigma for men and women veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

No investigations have fully evaluated the range of public stigma for United States' military veterans with combat-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Previous investigations have also focused exclusively on men and have not included women veterans, who have been increasingly exposed to combat in recent military operations, are at higher risk for developing PTSD compared to men, and who represent the fastest growing segment of the population joining the military. In this investigation, undergraduate participants (N = 262; 44% women; mean age 20 years) completed measures of veteran familiarity and PTSD symptoms, were randomly assigned to watch a video of either a veteran man or woman describing their combat experiences and PTSD symptoms and completed a public stigma questionnaire. Men participants ascribed more responsibility for combat-related PTSD to veterans than women, and the woman veteran was ascribed more responsibility for her PTSD than the man veteran by both women and men participants. The man veteran was appraised as more dangerous and fear provoking than the woman veteran. There was a trend suggesting the man veteran elicited more anger than the woman veteran. Participants reported wanting to segregate and coerce the man veteran into treatment more than the woman veteran. Veteran familiarity was associated with decreased perception of danger, anger and fear, while experiencing PTSD was associated with increased perception of danger, anger, and fear. These findings provide a preliminary assessment of public stigma for veterans with combat-related PTSD and are the first to incorporate women veterans with combat-related PTSD.

Automated summary

This study found that male participants tended to attribute more responsibility for combat-related PTSD to veterans, while both female and male participants perceived female veterans to bear more responsibility for their own PTSD. Male veterans were seen as more dangerous, fear-provoking, and likely to elicit anger compared to female veterans. Familiarity with veterans was associated with decreased perception of danger, anger, and fear, while experiencing PTSD was associated with increased perception of danger, anger, and fear.