Combat Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology Among U. S. Soldiers Deployed to the Gulf War

Among the most stressful experiences soldiers encounter during combat is exposure to dead and wounded soldiers and civilians. This article examines the early (9 months postcombat) psychological reactions of U.S. Army soldiers deployed from Germany who served in frontline combat units during the Persian Gulf War. In particular, the article focuses on stress symptoms associated with soldiers' exposure to death and wounding during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Those soldiers exposed to casualties, especially U.S. casualties, had greater distress scores as measured by the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and a tripartite measure of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology modeled on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. DSM-III-R; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) than did those without such exposure. Rank, type of casualty exposure, and current problems with coworkers and chain of command were additively related to explained variance in IES and PTS symptomatology scores. Issues in identifying soldiers most at risk for psychological distress are discussed.