Combat experience and emotional health: impairment and resilience in later life
Title
Combat experience and emotional health: impairment and resilience in later life
Creator
Elder GH; Clipp EC
Identifier
Publisher
Journal Of Personality
Date
1989
Subject
Humans; Male; Adult; Memory; Longitudinal Studies; Risk Factors; adolescent; P.H.S.; Research Support; U.S. Gov't; Adaptation; Psychological; Stress Disorders; War; Human Development; Non-P.H.S.; Veterans/psychology; Post-Traumatic/psychology; Assertiveness; Ego
Description
War's influence on emotional health includes potential psychological gains as well as losses. In a sample of 149 veterans from longitudinal samples at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley, this study explores two questions on the legacy of combat in World War II and the Korean conflict. The first concerns the subjective experience or meanings of combat that veterans hold in later life, with particular attention to how such accounts are linked to the severity of combat and postwar adaptations. The second question links these accounts to the psychosocial functioning of veterans before the war and in later life using reports from veterans and their spouses and Q-sort ratings in adolescence and at age 40. Findings center on veterans of heavy combat. Compared to the noncombatants and light combat veterans, these men were at greater risk of emotional and behavioral problems in the postwar years. In mid-life, they hold mixed memories of painful losses and life benefits associated with military experience. Clinical ratings show that heavy combat veterans became more resilient and less helpless over time when compared to other men. As in the case of life events generally, short- and long-term effects may impair and enhance personal growth.
1989
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Type
Journal Article
Citation List Month
Backlog
Citation
Elder GH; Clipp EC, “Combat experience and emotional health: impairment and resilience in later life,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 19, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/12468.