Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in military veterans increases the risk of PTSD in their offspring, a concept known as “intergenerational transmission;” however, the mechanism by which this transmission may occur is, as yet, undetermined. The present study included a nonclinical sample of 197 Australian Army veterans of the Vietnam War who were interviewed 17 years before in-person interviews of their adult daughters (n = 163) and sons (n = 120) were conducted. Veterans’ PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD. Approximately 17 years later, offspring PTSD symptoms were assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV. In addition, offspring described the family emotional climate during their youth; responses were coded using the Family Affective Attitude Rating Scale (FAARS) to produce scale scores of veterans’ negative, positive, and family relationship styles. A path analysis was conducted via structural equation modeling to test for significant path coefficients between veteran PTSD, family emotional climate, and offspring PTSD symptoms. For daughters, significant path coefficients were observed between veteran PTSD scores and FAARS scores, path coefficient = -.268; FAARS scores and offspring CAPS severity scores, path coefficient = -.223; and veteran PTSD scores and daughters’ CAPS severity scores, path coefficient = .186. No satisfactory model could be found for sons. The results suggest that a positive emotional climate while growing up may be a significant protective factor against the development of PTSD in veterans’ daughters, but other factors remain significant in veteran-to-offspring intergenerational transmission.

中文翻译：

---

澳大利亚越战退伍军人女儿和儿子创伤后应激障碍的代际传播：成长过程中家庭情绪气候的影响

退伍军人的创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 会增加其后代患 PTSD 的风险，这一概念被称为“代际传播”；然而，这种传播可能发生的机制尚未确定。本研究包括 197 名越战澳大利亚退伍军人的非临床样本，他们在对其成年女儿 ( n = 163) 和儿子 ( n = 120) 进行面对面访谈之前 17 年接受了访谈。退伍军人的创伤后应激障碍症状使用密西西比战斗相关创伤后应激障碍量表进行评估。大约 17 年后，使用临床医生管理的DSM - IV PTSD 量表评估后代 PTSD 症状. 此外，后代描述了他们年轻时的家庭情感氛围；使用家庭情感态度评定量表（FAARS）对回答进行编码，以产生退伍军人消极、积极和家庭关系风格的量表分数。通过结构方程模型进行路径分析，以测试退伍军人 PTSD、家庭情绪氛围和后代 PTSD 症状之间的显着路径系数。对于女儿，在退伍军人 PTSD 评分和 FAARS 评分之间观察到显着的路径系数，路径系数 = -.268；FAARS 评分和后代 CAPS 严重程度评分，路径系数 = -.223；和退伍军人 PTSD 评分和女儿的 CAPS 严重程度评分，路径系数 = .186。找不到适合儿子的模型。