Do soldiers really tell us how they feel? Perceived sensitivity of trauma-related symptoms across subgroups of the Austrian Armed Forces
- Autor(en)
- Wolfgang Prinz, Gloria Straub, Brigitte Lueger-Schuster
- Abstrakt
Track:Military & Emergency Services & their familiesBackground:The occupational demands of military service can be associated with increasedrisks of trauma-related disorders, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However,studies on the prevalence of PTSD among military personnel have been revealinginconsistent results (Fulton et al., 2015). In this context, it has been assumed that soldierscould tend to an underreporting of mental health symptoms. Underreporting particularlyoccurs in the context of studies addressing sensitive topics. Notably, varying levels ofperceived sensitivity across items and subpopulations might induce differential patterns ofmisreporting and lead to biased results (Tourangeau & Yan, 2007). Therefore, differentialsensitivity perceptions of trauma-related symptoms across military subgroups couldcontribute to inconsistencies in thisfield of research.Objective:In order to explore potential indicators of misreporting, we examined the perceivedsensitivity of trauma-related symptoms across occupational subgroups of the Austrian ArmedForces (AAF). Method: Cross-sectional data were obtained from 572 active-duty soldiers, 768conscripts and 164 civilian employees of the AAF. Participants rated the perceived sensitivityof items of the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) (Cloitre et al., 2018) and a controlmeasure. Associations of subgroup, demographic variables, survey design, measure andsymptom cluster with sensitivity ratings were analyzed applying multilevel-modelling.Results:Trauma-related symptoms, particularly symptoms of negative self-concept anddisturbances in relationships, age and aspects of survey design were associated withheightened levels of perceived sensitivity.Conclusions:Our results indicate that differential patterns of misreporting could be a potentialsource of bias in thefield of military trauma research
- Organisation(en)
- Institut für Klinische und Gesundheitspsychologie
- Externe Organisation(en)
- Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung und Sport (BMLVS)
- Journal
- European Journal of Psychotraumatology
- Band
- 14
- ISSN
- 2000-8198
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2023.2197743
- Publikationsdatum
- 05-2023
- Peer-reviewed
- Ja
- ÖFOS 2012
- 302065 Psychiatrie, 501010 Klinische Psychologie
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 3 – Gesundheit und Wohlergehen
- Link zum Portal
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/do-soldiers-really-tell-us-how-they-feel-perceived-sensitivity-of-traumarelated-symptoms-across-subgroups-of-the-austrian-armed-forces(6fdad2ae-65c7-48aa-b165-b14790293821).html