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Abstract

U.S. service women were exposed to more combat-related trauma in recent wars compared to prior conflicts and consequently faced an increased risk of trauma-related mental health outcomes. In this study, we examined gender by race differences in self-reported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and clinician diagnoses in a large sample of U.S. Black and White service men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, to determine whether women overall and Black women in particular are at an increased risk of PTSD compared to Black and White men. Using three PTSD measures—two symptom-based measures assessed at different times and one diagnosis measure—we found more traumatic combat exposures were associated with higher PTSD risk for service women compared to service men, but there was no additional increase in risk of PTSD for Black females.

Keywords

military post-traumatic stress disorder gender race trauma

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Race,Gender,and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the U.S. Military

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