Intimate Partner Aggression Perpetrated and Sustained by Male Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam Veterans With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) consistently evidence higher rates of intimate partner aggression perpetration than veterans without PTSD, but most studies have examined rates of aggression among Vietnam veterans several years after their deployment. The primary aim of this study was to examine partner aggression among male Afghanistan or Iraq veterans who served during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and compare this aggression to that reported by Vietnam veterans with PTSD. Three groups were recruited, OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD (n = 27), OEF/OIF veterans without PTSD (n = 31), and Vietnam veterans with PTSD (n = 28). Though only a few comparisons reached significance, odds ratios suggested that male OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD were approximately 1.9 to 3.1 times more likely to perpetrate aggression toward their female partners and 1.6 to 6 times more likely to report experiencing female perpetrated aggression than the other two groups. Significant correlations among reports of violence perpetrated and sustained suggested many men may have been in mutually violent relationships. Taken together, these results suggest that partner aggression among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with PTSD may be an important treatment consideration and target for prevention.

Comparing Intimately Violent to Non-violent Veterans in Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

“…Bidirectional aggression and violence have been identified, leading some authors to conclude that the violence is mutual (Teten et al 2010). Other authors caution that while female to male aggression is present, clinically significant IPV (physical violence and emotional abuse) was more likely perpetrated by men (Foran et al 2011).…”

“…Indirect associations of war zone stressors (Orcutt et al 2003) and combat (Prigerson et al 2002;Marshall et al 2005) have also been linked to both general and partner aggressions. Veterans with combat exposure and PSTD symptom development have reported significantly higher rates of generally violent behaviors and aggression than Veterans without PTSD for both Vietnam Veterans (Freeman and Roca 2001), as well as OIF/OEF Veterans (Elbogen et al 2012;Jakupcak et al 2007;Teten et al 2010). The association of PTSD to both general and partner aggression has been linked to dysphoria and the PTSD Bhyperarousal symptom cluster^ (Taft et al 2007, pg.…”

“…Previous research has examined aggression and intimate partner violence (IPV) comparatively between the following groups: Veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Teten et al 2010), clinical and nonclinical samples (Foran et al 2011), and civilian (persons without a military background) and military and Veteran samples (Taft et al 2011). There is little research that focuses specifically on comparisons between Veterans in treatment for PTSD who are intimately violent to those who are not, and little research that incorporates both Veteran and intimate partner reports of relationship behaviors (Capaldi et al 2012).…”

The impact of deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan on partners and wives of military personnel

“…The excluded studies included ten which questioned only the service person themselves (Fonseca et al ., 2006;Gerwitz et al ., 2010;McLeland et al ., 2008;Meis et al ., 2010aMeis et al ., , 2010bRenshaw et al ., 2009;Sayers et al ., 2009;Teten et al ., 2009Teten et al ., , 2010Forgey & Badger, 2006) and two qualitative studies (Lapp et al ., 2010;Goff et al ., 2006).…”

Anxiety disorders and intimate partner violence: can the association be explained by coexisting conditions or borderline personality traits?

“…Anxiety, personality disorder and IPV IPV perpetrators have high rates of psychiatric morbidity and substance misuse (Fals-Stewart, 2003;Lipsky, Caetano, & Roy-Byrne, 2011;Shorey, Febres, Brasfield, & Stuart, 2012;Stuart et al, 2013). there is a strong association between anxiety disorders and IPV, particularly for generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social phobia (Shorey et al, 2012;teten et al, 2010). Henning et al found rates of anxiety of 21% among female perpetrators and 29% among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (Henning, Jones, & Holdford, 2003a).…”