Intra- and inter-personal factors of psychosocial status in Slovenian military personnel with regard to their traumatic event experience

Abstract

Ključne besede: travma, obvladovanje, psihosocialni status, vojaško osebje, spol Attachment avoidance and ambivalent attachment have been shown to be associated with a greater number of PTSD symptoms (14). Adult attachment style and PTSD symptomatology were investigated in 107 former prisoners of war (15). Those with secure attachment styles scored significantly lower on measures of PTSD than did those with insecure styles; attachment style was a stronger predictor of PTSD symptom intensity than was trauma severity. Hazen and Shaver (12) proposed a model of critical nature of primary attachment bonds. More recent theorists, however, have begun to argue that the individual's perception of their attachment relationships of early years is more critical than the occurrence of true childhood attachment-related events (13). It was found that pre-war risk factors differed between women and men (16). In women, instability within the primary family had the largest influence on PTSD; an early trauma history was also strongly associated with PTSD. In men, PTSD was predicted by family instability, childhood antisocial behaviour, and a younger age of entry into the war; an early trauma history was also directly associated with PTSD. An early trauma history also interacted with the war-zone level of stress to increase PTSD symptoms for male veterans exposed to intense combat. Social support, hardiness, and additional negative life events following Vietnam affected both men's and women's resilience and recovery (17). Schnurr et al. (18) examined risk factors for PTSD in veterans, and found that pre-military factors included