Racial differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among African American and Caucasian male veterans

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most prevalent mental health diagnoses for veterans. Previous research as well as the minority stress model and transgenerational trauma theories, suggest that race may be associated with PTSD, particularly in veterans. The current study examined whether there were racial differences in symptomology in a sample of combat veterans with PTSD (global and symptom cluster-specific).

Data were collected from male veterans who identified as non-Hispanic Caucasian or non-Hispanic African American (N = 413). Participants completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist- Military version (PCL-M). The PCL-M items were split into four symptom clusters to align with the DSM-5: Re-experiencing, Avoidance, Numbing, and Hyperarousal. It was hypothesized that African American veterans would report more severe global PTSD symptoms and higher levels of hypervigilance.

Findings indicated global PTSD symptoms and three of the four symptom clusters did not differ, although the symptom cluster of Re-experiencing was found to be higher for African Americans compared to Caucasians.

It may be helpful for researchers to broaden their methods of assessing PTSD symptomology, such as to examine specific PTSD symptom clusters, especially when assessing differences by race.