One hundred Vietnam veterans with combat‐related PTSD were administered the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI) and the Combat Exposure Scale and were sorted into three groups based on trauma exposure level. Results indicate no significant differences among the personality profiles of the three trauma‐exposed groups. A normative NEO‐PI profile for persons diagnosed with combat‐related PTSD is presented, characterized by an extremely high Neuroticism score (T>75) and an extremely low Agreeableness score (T<25).

The relationship of the NEO-PI to personality disorders was evaluated in a clinical population. Eighty subjects with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were given this measure, along with the MCMI-II and PTSD and combat scales. Two questions were addressed: (1) What is the relationship of NEO-PI domains and facets to personality disorders?; and (2) What is this scale's relationship to PTSD problems? Results support previous studies that employed a clinical population, but with lower correlation coefficients. For the most part, then, the NEO-PI domains and facets correlated in expected ways with the MCMI-II. On PTSD measures, N accounted for the majority of the variance, but other domains were entered when independent regression equations were calculated to account for different personality disorders.

The relationship of the NEO‐PI to personality disorders was evaluated in a clinical population. Eighty subjects with post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were given this measure, along with the MCMI‐II and PTSD and combat scales. Two questions were addressed: (1) What is the relationship of NEO‐PI domains and facets to personality disorders?; and (2) What is this scale's relationship to PTSD problems? Results support previous studies that employed a clinical population, but with lower correlation coefficients. For the most part, then, the NEO‐PI domains and facets correlated in expected ways with the MCMI‐II. On PTSD measures, N accounted for the majority of the variance, but other domains were entered when independent regression equations were calculated to account for different personality disorders.

Despite a proliferation of research on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)among Vietnam combat veterans, until recently relatively little attention has been given to this disorder among older combat veterans. PTSD in this cohort is prevalent, and is generally chronic, silent, and exacerbated by the problems of aging. This study examines chronic PTSD due to combat at later life and presents data on these issues, discusses moderator variables of aging and PTSD, and addresses treatment issues. Several forms of therapy are considered, including cognitive behavioral therapy, reminiscence, and relaxation/ desensitization. Also, several treatment suggestions are given, advocating interventions of a stuck narrative in an aging population.In psychophysiology the principle of nonadditive determinism holds that properties of an entity emerge only when examined across levels of organization. So too, in studies on the effects of trauma, an understanding of a trauma memory is possible only when the whole person is known.