Military Women Are at No Greater Risk of Developing PTSD Than Men

While past research on gender differences in the onset of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among U.S. veterans has been mixed, a recent study by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs suggests that women in the military are at no greater risk of developing PTSD than their male counterparts who experience similar traumatic events.

The study included more than 2,300 pairs of men and women in the military who were matched based on an array of variables—including combat exposure, alcohol misuse, depression, and sexual assault—and surveyed on PTSD symptoms over an average time span of seven years (from 2001 to 2008). All participants had been deployed at least once to Iraq or Afghanistan and did not show signs of PTSD at the study’s initiation. Outcome measures included a positive screen for PTSD and symptom severity scores measured by the PTSD Patient Checklist-Civilian Version.

The results, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, showed that 6.7 percent of women and 6.1 percent of men developed PTSD — a difference that was not statistically significant. There was also no difference in the severity of PTSD symptoms among men and women who developed the disorder.

“This study supports the positive direction being taken by the expansion of women's occupations into combat arms roles, and suggests continued support from the [Department of Defense] for women seeking occupational equality in the military setting,” the researchers noted. They concluded that the current findings support the notion that gender alone is not an indicator of PTSD risk.

To read more about the efforts to treat PTSD in military personnel, see the Psychiatric News article “Military Turns to Collaborative Care to Treat PTSD, Depression.”

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