Relationship of cynical hostility and PTSD among vietnam veterans

Abstract

The personality construct of cynical hostility, as measured by the Cook-Medley scale (an MMPI subscale)

Relationship between scores on anger measures and PTSD symptomatology, employment, and compensation-seeking status in combat veterans

“…These findings are consistent with the results of Chemtob et al (1994), in which the mean scores and standard deviations on the BDHI and the Anger Expression Scale were similar to the present results. The data are also consistent with the findings of Kubany et al (1994) in that measures of anger and PTSD were significantly correlated with one another, indicating a direct interrelationship between anger and PTSD severity. The data also showed that anger varied as a function of employment status, but not compensation-seeking status.…”

“…One implication of these findings is that, based on the established link between anger and heart disease (e.g., Smith, 1992;Spielberger et al, 1991), veterans with PTSD may be at increased risk for cardiac difficulties. Thus, these data supports previous suggestions (e.g., Kubany et al, 1994) that high levels of anger may lead not only to potential difficulties with interpersonal functioning, but also to physical health problems in veterans with PTSD. Certainly this is a population who have demonstrated dramatic levels of health problems in recent years (e.g., Kulka et al, 1990;Litz, Keane, Fisher, Marx, & Monaco, 1992), and hostility may be one of several factors to account for this.…”

“…© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 53: [871][872][873][874][875][876][877][878]1997 Although anger and associated behavioral problems are listed as symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in DSM-IV (APA, 1994) and there is a persistent stereotype of veterans with PTSD being hostile and violent, the empirical evidence of an interrelationship between PTSD and anger is limited. There are several epidemiological (e.g., Boulanger, 1986;Kulka et al, 1990;Laufer, Yager, Frey-Wouters, & Donnellan, 1981) and clinical (e.g., Blum, Kelly, Meyer, Carlson, & Hodson, 1984;Riley, Treiber & Woods, 1989;Silver & Iacono, 1984) reports describing the prominence of anger symptoms in combat veterans with PTSD; however, only a handful of psychometric studies have examined this construct in veterans with combatrelated PTSD using standardized measures (Chemtob, Hamada, Roitblat, & Muraoka, 1994;Kubany, Gino, Denny, & Torigoe, 1994;Kulka et al, 1990). These few studies provide tentative empirical support for the theoretical relationship between anger and PTSD.…”

“…Chemtob et al (1994) found that 24 Vietnam veterans with PTSD scored significantly higher on anger measures (i.e., Buss Durkee Hostility Index, Anger Expression Scale) than 23 Vietnam veterans without PTSD and a group of 12 noncombat Vietnam era veterans with other psychiatric diagnoses. Another study found that the Cook-Medley hostility subscale of the MMPI was significantly correlated with the MMPI-PTSD supplementary scale in a sample of Vietnam veterans, and that the Cook-Medley subscale was significantly higher for a group of Vietnam veterans with PTSD disability ratings than for a group of Vietnam era veterans without PTSD disability (Kubany et al, 1994).…”

“…Only one study has examined the correlation between anger and PTSD symptoms (Kubany et al, 1994), and that study used only one measure of anger and one measure of PTSD. Therefore, the present study was designed to further examine, via several psychometric instruments, the interrelationship between anger and PTSD symptoms in a group of combat veterans diagnosed with PTSD, and to evaluate the role of employment and compensation-seeking status on anger scores.…”