Traumatic stress disorder and violent behavior

Abstract

Abstract Some previous research with Vietnam combat veterans has found a relationship to subsequent development of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and involvement in violent behavior. The relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to violence have not been studied in nonveteran samples. This article reports the relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to violence in a sample of 1140 incarcerated male felons, most of whom did not develop PTSD or its symptoms from a combat‐related traumatic stressor event. A relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to arrest and incarceration for expressive violence is found when demographic, antisocial personality, and problem drinking factors are controlled. For the large majority of those who experienced at least one PTSD symptom and had an arrest history for expressive violence, the PTSD symptom preceded or occurred in the same year as the violence arrest. This temporal ordering is consistent with viewing PTSD symptoms as etiologically relevant to the occurrence of violence.