Positive Adjustment Among American Repatriated Prisoners of the Vietnam War

Abstract

A longitudinal lifespan model of factors contributing to later-life positive adjustment was tested on 567 American repatriated prisoners from the Vietnam War. This model encompassed demographics at time of capture and attributes assessed after return to the U.S. (reports of torture and mental distress) and approximately 3 decades later (later-life stressors, perceived social support, positive appraisal of military experiences, and positive adjustment). Age and education at time of capture and physical torture were associated with repatriation mental distress, which directly predicted poorer adjustment 30 years later. Physical torture also had a salutary effect, enhancing later-life positive appraisals of military experiences. Later-life events were directly and indirectly (through concerns about retirement) associated with positive adjustment. Results suggest that the personal resources of older age and more education and early-life adverse experiences can have cascading effects over the lifespan to impact well-being in both positive and negative ways.

Associations between hardiness, C-reactive protein, and telomere length among former prisoners of war.

“…Many studies documented the positive role of personality resources, such as optimism (Segovia, Moore, Linnville, & Hoyt, 2015) or positive appraisal of military experiences (King et al, 2015), in predicting long-term positive adjustment among ex-POWs. It may be that hardiness improves ex-POW's cognitive appraisal of their past, present, and even future losses.…”

The Impacts of Service Related Exposures on Trajectories of Mental Health Among Aging Veterans

“…Therefore, it is not clear which experiences are most salient in predicting mental health for older veterans. While SREs are studied in the short term among 24-33 yearold All Volunteer Force (AVF) veterans (Cesur, Sabia, & Tekin, 2013); longitudinally for physical health outcomes among older conscript-era veterans (Taylor et al, 2016); and longitudinally for health outcomes of repatriated prisoners of war (Kaiser et al, 2011;King et al, 2015;Park, Kaiser, Spiro, King, & King, 2012), they have yet to be examined using longitudinal, population representative data with respect to mental health outcomes in later life (MacLean, 2013).…”

Challenges in the homecoming of released prisoners of war: Israeli defense force preparations—A case study of freed prisoners of war from the Yom Kippur War and Second Lebanon War.

“…Furthermore, as former POWs are at risk of PTSD and other direct negative associations with mental distress at the time of repatriation (Dikel et al, 2005; King et al, 2015), we were concerned as physicians and mental health officers who often encounter PTSD casualties about the complex challenges facing returning POWs when coping with the aftermath of their captivity and their homecoming. We could see that it was vital for the IDF as a system to respond sensitively to their needs.…”

“…Combat is traumatic, and when soldiers are captured by the enemy their trauma is compounded 10-fold (Levin, Greene, & Solomon, 2016). Because prisoners of war (POWs) are controlled by their captors with no means of escape, captivity equates with deprivation, intimidation, punishment, physical deterioration, illness, and debilitation (Herman, 1992; King et al, 2015). Prisoner-of-war trauma is one of the highest predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and POWs are at risk of complex trauma (Dikel, Engdahl, & Eberly, 2005; Rintamaki, Weaver, Elbaum, Klama, & Miskevics, 2009).…”

“…POWs are also significantly associated with generalized anxiety disorder and depression (King et al, 2015; Rintamaki et al, 2009). Other studies have shown positive adjustment among POWs (King et al, 2015; Zerach et al, 2015).…”