Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Many Vietnam War veterans who experienced military trauma still exhibit PTSD symptomatology. Little is known about how new stressful situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, affect previously traumatized people or whether they will react differently to them. We explore whether military combat experie...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.809357/full |
| _version_ | 1819009798735134720 |
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| author | Jeanne M. Stellman Steven D. Stellman Avron Spiro Anica Pless Kaiser Brian N. Smith |
| author_facet | Jeanne M. Stellman Steven D. Stellman Avron Spiro Anica Pless Kaiser Brian N. Smith |
| author_sort | Jeanne M. Stellman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many Vietnam War veterans who experienced military trauma still exhibit PTSD symptomatology. Little is known about how new stressful situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, affect previously traumatized people or whether they will react differently to them. We explore whether military combat experiences in Vietnam affect veterans' perceived abilities to cope with COVID-19 and whether current PTSD symptoms and later-adulthood reengagement with trauma memories are related to coping. We examine the extent that current PTSD symptoms and trauma reengagement relate to preventive practices. Participants were part of a randomly sampled cohort of American Legionnaires who responded to two previous surveys (1984, 1998), were born 1945-1953 and deployed to Vietnam 1963-1973, thus representing an aging veteran population. A survey supplement assessed coping with the pandemic and adherence to public health guidelines. The response rate was 74% (N = 507); 422 (61.6%) completed the COVID-19 supplement. Military experiences were found to affect coping with 41.4% reporting they affected ability to cope with COVID-19. Medium- and high-combat veterans were more likely to report that military experience affected coping than low-combat (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.51–3.96; 2.6, 95% CI 1.41–4.61, respectively). Those with high PTSD scores had 7.7-fold (95% CI 4.3–13.17) increased likelihood of reporting that their coping was affected, compared to low-PTSD scorers. Few adopted social distancing (4%), staying at home (17%), or ceasing usual activities (32%); high-combat veterans were least likely to stay home. Veterans who practiced handwashing, sanitizer use, mask-wearing, and surface disinfection had significantly higher PTSD scores than those who did not. Veterans with higher scores on the LOSS-SF scale associated more reengagement with trauma memories and were more likely to engage in personal preventive strategies. Analysis of open-ended responses supported these findings. We conclude that fifty years after returning from Vietnam, PTSD scores were high for high-combat veterans, suggestive of PTSD diagnosis. Military experiences affected coping with COVID both positively and negatively, and may have helped instill useful personal health behaviors. Veterans, especially those with PTSD symptomatology, may have special needs during stressful times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting compliance with recommended practices, as well as their overall health and well-being. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:02:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-151a7726711b4f4c979af02095e1ac07 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:02:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-151a7726711b4f4c979af02095e1ac072022-12-21T19:21:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652022-01-01910.3389/fpubh.2021.809357809357Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 PandemicJeanne M. Stellman0Steven D. Stellman1Avron Spiro2Anica Pless Kaiser3Brian N. Smith4Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United StatesMassachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System and Departments of Epidemiology and Psychiatry, Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, MA, United StatesNational Center for PTSD Behavioral Science Division at VA Boston Healthcare System and Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United StatesNational Center for PTSD Women's Health Sciences Division, VA Boston Healthcare System and Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United StatesMany Vietnam War veterans who experienced military trauma still exhibit PTSD symptomatology. Little is known about how new stressful situations, like the COVID-19 pandemic, affect previously traumatized people or whether they will react differently to them. We explore whether military combat experiences in Vietnam affect veterans' perceived abilities to cope with COVID-19 and whether current PTSD symptoms and later-adulthood reengagement with trauma memories are related to coping. We examine the extent that current PTSD symptoms and trauma reengagement relate to preventive practices. Participants were part of a randomly sampled cohort of American Legionnaires who responded to two previous surveys (1984, 1998), were born 1945-1953 and deployed to Vietnam 1963-1973, thus representing an aging veteran population. A survey supplement assessed coping with the pandemic and adherence to public health guidelines. The response rate was 74% (N = 507); 422 (61.6%) completed the COVID-19 supplement. Military experiences were found to affect coping with 41.4% reporting they affected ability to cope with COVID-19. Medium- and high-combat veterans were more likely to report that military experience affected coping than low-combat (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.51–3.96; 2.6, 95% CI 1.41–4.61, respectively). Those with high PTSD scores had 7.7-fold (95% CI 4.3–13.17) increased likelihood of reporting that their coping was affected, compared to low-PTSD scorers. Few adopted social distancing (4%), staying at home (17%), or ceasing usual activities (32%); high-combat veterans were least likely to stay home. Veterans who practiced handwashing, sanitizer use, mask-wearing, and surface disinfection had significantly higher PTSD scores than those who did not. Veterans with higher scores on the LOSS-SF scale associated more reengagement with trauma memories and were more likely to engage in personal preventive strategies. Analysis of open-ended responses supported these findings. We conclude that fifty years after returning from Vietnam, PTSD scores were high for high-combat veterans, suggestive of PTSD diagnosis. Military experiences affected coping with COVID both positively and negatively, and may have helped instill useful personal health behaviors. Veterans, especially those with PTSD symptomatology, may have special needs during stressful times, like the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting compliance with recommended practices, as well as their overall health and well-being.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.809357/fullVietnam veteransCOVID-19PTSDhealth behaviorcombatcoping |
| spellingShingle | Jeanne M. Stellman Steven D. Stellman Avron Spiro Anica Pless Kaiser Brian N. Smith Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic Frontiers in Public Health Vietnam veterans COVID-19 PTSD health behavior combat coping |
| title | Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Impact of Military Service in Vietnam on Coping and Health Behaviors of Aging Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | impact of military service in vietnam on coping and health behaviors of aging veterans during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | Vietnam veterans COVID-19 PTSD health behavior combat coping |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.809357/full |
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