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Previous studies have identified traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as predictors of physical health complaints without considering the relationship between exposure and PTSD. This study examined the unique associations of war-zone exposure and PTSD with perceived physical health outcomes in a nontreatment-seeking sample of 109 female veterans of the Vietnam War who responded to a series of psychological, exposure, and health questionnaires. Both PTSD and exposure were associated with reports of negative health outcomes when each variable was not adjusted for the other. The effects associated with exposure decreased when PTSD was controlled for, whereas the effects associated with PTSD remained when exposure was controlled for. Results suggest that effects of traumatic exposure on perceived health are partially mediated by increases in PTSD after exposure, supporting studies on the effects of stress on health.
Wolfe et al. (Sat,) studied this question.