The Purdue Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Scale is a 15-item self-report instrument based on the DSM-III diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. This scale is a quick, easily administered, measure of psychological reactions to a traumatic event. The goal of the present report is to validate this instrument for use as a measure of long-lasting combat stress reactions of American Vietnam veterans. The PPS demonstrated a high degree of internal consistency with a Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.94. The PPS demonstrated construct validity through significant correlations with other self-report measures of combat experience and residual psychological distress, and through a factor analysis yielding three factors, labeled as arousal, avoidance, and the global perception of distress. Results support further use of the Purdue Post-traumatic Stress Scale as a research instrument for assessing the long-term impact of a traumatic event.

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This study surveyed Vietnam veterans'perceptions of the impact of their wartime experiences on their currentfamily life. This research used veterans' self-reports of combat exposure, the psychological impact of war service, and family satisfaction and functioning. The results indicated direct effects of war service on psychological impact and direct effects of psychological impact on family satisfaction and functioning. No direct effects were found between war service and family satisfaction and functioning. Implications forfamily life educators and therapists are included. Even though the last U.S. military forces were withdrawn from Vietnam in 1975, the effects of war service remain a significant part of the lives of many of those who served. Now, with U.S. military forces having recently served in a hostile environment, greater understanding of the long-term effects of war service on veterans and their families is needed. Examining the long-term experiences of veterans of our last war and their families can help family life educators and therapists to better prepare for the return of any future war veterans. Implications for educators and therapists are addressed at the end of this report. This research studies the relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and family satisfaction and functioning variables. While much research exists on the short-term (up to three years) psychological aftermath of war service, a need exists for research that investigates the long-term and enduring nature of war stress and war service on later family functioning. This study represents an attempt to fill this need by surveying Vietnam veterans more than 20 years after their war service, and is unique in the long time between the traumatic incident (Vietnam service) and the study. Review of Research Vietnam veterans returned to their home countries at the end of their tour, but many did not leave their Vietnam experiences behind them. The enduring nature of the psychological impact of war service is indicated best by the apparent prevalence of PTSD (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) among Vietnam veterans. The major symptoms of PTSD are: (a) experiencing an event that is outside the range of normal experience, (b) reexperiencing the event through intrusive thoughts or memories, (c) avoiding of reminders of the traumatic event or general numbing of responsiveness, and (d) persisting symptoms of increased arousal. The findings of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (Kulka et al., 1990) indicate that nearly 500,000 Vietnam veterans currently have PTSD and that nearly 1.7 million will exhibit clinically significant stress reactions at some time during their lives. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control found that Vietnam veterans were twice as likely to have enduring psychological problems when compared to other military veterans (Roberts, 1988).