Your topic this week really hits home for me as my husband (who is currently
deployed) has PTSD. After reading your discussion I began to do some research
of my own and came upon an article that may be of interest to you. Kintzle, Barr,
Corletto, and Castro (2018) discuss how social connectedness may be related to
other prominent transition outcomes, particularly symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). Leaving the military in itself can be stressful requiring the
service member to transition into a new community and establish a sense of
connectedness to that community. This transition is oftentimes a substantial
challenge to move back into civilian life.
There were 722 veterans in the study to explore the role of social connectedness
in the development of PTSD, as well as its relationship to the known risk factors
of combat exposure and discharge status (Kintzle et al., 2018). The data used
was drawn from a needs assessment survey from the participants. Bivariate
correlations were computed for study variables of interest including combat
experiences, discharge status, social connectedness, and PTSD symptoms, then a
path model was specified to test direct and indirect effects of combat
experiences, non-honorable discharge status, and social connectedness on PTSD
symptoms (Kintzle et al., 2018). The sample as a whole reported high levels of
PTSD symptoms (M = 36.07, SD = 21.6) and moderate levels of social
connectedness (M = 32.15, SD = 13.27).
The results verified positive direct effects for combat experiences and non-
honorable discharge status on PTSD symptoms while social connectedness
demonstrated a negative direct effect. Negative direct effects were demonstrated
on both combat experiences and non-honorable discharge status on social
connectedness. These results were indirect on PTSD through the social
connectedness pathway (Kintzle et al., 2018). Kintzle et al (2018) concluded that
social connectedness may be an important factor related to PTSD in veterans as
well as an intervention point for mitigating risk related to combat exposure and
discharge status.
Reference
Kintzle, S., Barr, N., Corletto, G., & Castro, C. A. (2018). PTSD in U.S. Veterans: The
Role of Social Connectedness, Combat Experience and Discharge. Healthcare
(Basel, Switzerland), 6(3), 102. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6030102
