Social Relationships and PTSD Symptomatology in Combat Veterans

The primary purpose of this study is to determine if recent combat veterans discriminate between different sources of social support, and then preliminarily investigate the relationship of social support source on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. Participants included 83 married male combat veterans. Principal-axis factor analysis with equamax rotation observed four distinct latent factors for each source of support examined. ANOVAs were performed to determine the relationship of each source of support from the distinct latent factors on the level of PTSD. Results indicate that the level of PTSD is related to support received from a significant other, F (1, 81) = 30.36, p < .001, family, F (1, 81) = 8.10, p = .006, and military peers, F (1, 81) = 6.70, p = .011, but not friends, F (1, 81) = 1.79, p = .18. In general, higher levels of support from each category were associated with lower levels of PTSD in combat veterans. The results suggest that combat veterans distinguish between specific sources of social support, which may have a protective effect on the level of PTSD.