Abstract

Objective

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and hazardous alcohol use are prevalent among trauma survivors. Despite higher rates of both PTSD and hazardous alcohol use among military combat veterans than civilians, scant research has examined whether military combat experience is associated with drinking alcohol to cope with PTSD symptoms. This study tested the hypothesis that compared to trauma-exposed men without combat experience, men with military combat experience would be more likely to endorse drinking alcohol to cope with their PTSD symptoms. Methods: Interview data from N = 11,474 men who reported at least one lifetime traumatic experience were drawn from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a face-to-face interview study that recruited a nationally representative sample of adults living in the United States between 2004 and 2005. Results: Among men endorsing lifetime trauma exposure, men with military combat experience (n = 1,386) were more likely than men without combat experience (n = 10,088) to report drinking alcohol to cope (7.22 vs. 2.61% in unweighted analyses, 6.46 vs. 2.37% in weighted analyses). Total number of lifetime trauma types, lifetime PTSD severity, and lifetime alcohol abuse/dependence were significantly associated with drinking to cope in bivariate and multivariate analyses. Military combat experience was significantly associated with drinking to cope in multivariate analyses adjusting for lifetime PTSD diagnosis. Military combat experience was not significantly associated with drinking to cope in multivariate analyses adjusting for lifetime PTSD symptom count. Conclusions: Although military combat experience was significantly associated with drinking to cope in bivariate analyses, multivariate analyses yielded mixed findings: combat experience was significantly associated with drinking to cope in models adjusting for PTSD diagnosis, but not in models adjusting for PTSD symptom count. Findings highlight the importance of assessing and targeting PTSD symptom-related alcohol use, even in the absence of alcohol abuse/dependence. Results from this preliminary study could inform future research on drinking to cope with PTSD symptoms among military combat veterans and other trauma survivors.

中文翻译：

---

饮酒以应对创伤后压力：对有和没有军事战斗经验的男性的全国代表性研究

摘要

客观的

创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 和危险饮酒在创伤幸存者中很普遍。尽管退伍军人的 PTSD 和有害酒精使用率高于平民，但很少有研究检查军事战斗经验是否与饮酒以应对PTSD 症状有关。这项研究检验了一个假设，即与没有战斗经验的遭受创伤的男性相比，有军事战斗经验的男性更有可能支持饮酒来应对他们的 PTSD 症状。方法：来自N 的访谈数据 = 11,474 名报告至少一生创伤经历的男性来自全国酒精及相关疾病流行病学调查 (NESARC)，这是一项面对面的访谈研究，招募了 2004 年间居住在美国的具有全国代表性的成年人样本和 2005.结果：在支持终生创伤暴露的男性中，有军事战斗经验的男性 ( n  = 1,386) 比没有战斗经验的男性 ( n = 10,088) 报告饮酒来应对（未加权分析中为 7.22% 与 2.61%，加权分析中为 6.46% 与 2.37%）。在双变量和多变量分析中，终生创伤类型的总数、终生 PTSD 严重程度和终生酒精滥用/依赖与饮酒显着相关。在调整终生 PTSD 诊断的多变量分析中，军事战斗经验与饮酒显着相关。在调整终生 PTSD 症状计数的多变量分析中，军事战斗经验与饮酒没有显着相关性。结论：尽管在双变量分析中，军事战斗经验与饮酒应对显着相关，但多变量分析得出的结果喜忧参半：在调整 PTSD 诊断的模型中，战斗经验与饮酒应对显着相关，但在调整 PTSD 症状计数的模型中则不然。研究结果强调了评估和针对与 PTSD 症状相关的酒精使用的重要性，即使在没有酒精滥用/依赖的情况下也是如此。这项初步研究的结果可以为未来关于饮酒以应对退伍军人和其他创伤幸存者的 PTSD 症状的研究提供信息。