Clinical symptomatology of posttraumatic stress disorder-diagnosed Australian and United States Vietnam combat veterans: an MMPI-2 comparison

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2003 Jul;191(7):458-64. doi: 10.1097/01.NMD.0000081614.30361.3D.

Abstract

The authors compared MMPI-2 scores of 95 Australian and 96 US Vietnam combat veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from structured PTSD clinical interviews. Groups were strikingly similar on the MMPI-2 clinical and validity scales but were different on two content scales, with higher scores on FRS (fears) and BIZ (bizarre mentation) for the US sample. Employment status was included as a factor, because it too discriminated groups, but it did not interact with the veteran group variable to produce scale differences. The roles of employment status and disability payments are considered in accounting for differences in the psychiatric presentations of the groups. Results suggest that American and Australian Vietnam combat PTSD samples are very similar to each other, with implications for the treatment outcome literature.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Australia / epidemiology
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Employment
  • Humans
  • MMPI / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Treatment Outcome
  • United States / epidemiology
  • Veterans / psychology
  • Veterans Disability Claims
  • Vietnam