TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender moderates the association of military sexual trauma and risk for psychological distress among VA-enrolled veterans
AU - Tannahill, Hallie S.
AU - Livingston, Whitney S.
AU - Fargo, Jamison D.
AU - Brignone, Emily
AU - Gundlapalli, Adi V.
AU - Blais, Rebecca K.
N1 - Funding Information:
Research was supported by Grant IIR 12-084 (PI: A.V.G.), and VA Center of Innovation Award #I50HX001240 from the Health Services Research and Development of the Office of Research and Development of the US Department of Veterans Affairs .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - Background: Military sexual trauma (MST) is associated with increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression diagnoses, as well as suicidal ideation/behavior (SI/B). Little is known about the differential effect of gender on the association of MST and the aforementioned mental health outcomes. As females are the fastest growing subpopulation of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), it is imperative to assess possible between-gender differences in the association of MST with PTSD, depression, and SI/B. Methods: Participants were 435,690 (n = 382,021, 87.7% men) 9/11 era veterans seen for care at the VHA between 2004 and 2014. Demographics, gender, PTSD and depression diagnoses, SI/B, and MST screen status were extracted from medical records. Adjusted logistic regression models assessed the moderating effect of gender on the association of MST with PTSD and depression diagnoses, as well as SI/B. Results: Women with MST had a larger increased risk for a PTSD diagnosis (predicted probability =0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.56, 0.56]) and comparable risk for a depression diagnosis (predicted probability = 0.63, 95% CI [0.63, 0.64]) compared to men with MST. Men were more likely to have evidence of SI/B (predicted probability = 1.07, 95% CI [0.10, 0.11]) relative to women, but the interaction between gender and MST was nonsignificant. Limitations: Data were limited to veterans seeking care through VHA and the MST screen did not account for MST severity. Conclusions: Non-VHA settings may consider screening for MST in both men and women, given that risk for PTSD and depression is heightened among female survivors of MST.
AB - Background: Military sexual trauma (MST) is associated with increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression diagnoses, as well as suicidal ideation/behavior (SI/B). Little is known about the differential effect of gender on the association of MST and the aforementioned mental health outcomes. As females are the fastest growing subpopulation of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), it is imperative to assess possible between-gender differences in the association of MST with PTSD, depression, and SI/B. Methods: Participants were 435,690 (n = 382,021, 87.7% men) 9/11 era veterans seen for care at the VHA between 2004 and 2014. Demographics, gender, PTSD and depression diagnoses, SI/B, and MST screen status were extracted from medical records. Adjusted logistic regression models assessed the moderating effect of gender on the association of MST with PTSD and depression diagnoses, as well as SI/B. Results: Women with MST had a larger increased risk for a PTSD diagnosis (predicted probability =0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.56, 0.56]) and comparable risk for a depression diagnosis (predicted probability = 0.63, 95% CI [0.63, 0.64]) compared to men with MST. Men were more likely to have evidence of SI/B (predicted probability = 1.07, 95% CI [0.10, 0.11]) relative to women, but the interaction between gender and MST was nonsignificant. Limitations: Data were limited to veterans seeking care through VHA and the MST screen did not account for MST severity. Conclusions: Non-VHA settings may consider screening for MST in both men and women, given that risk for PTSD and depression is heightened among female survivors of MST.
KW - Depression
KW - Gender
KW - Military sexual trauma
KW - PTSD
KW - Suicide
KW - Veterans
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.017
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 32217254
AN - SCOPUS:85082135189
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 268
SP - 215
EP - 220
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -