Combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder among second-generation Holocaust survivors: preliminary findings

The authors assessed the impact of the Nazi Holocaust on the course and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Israeli combat stress reaction casualties. They examined a sample of 96 such casualties of the 1982 Lebanon War whose parents had gone through the Nazi Holocaust and compared them to casualties who did not have such family history for 3 consecutive years beginning 1 year after their participation in the war. Results showed that 2 and 3 years after their participation in the 1982 Lebanon War, the children of Holocaust survivors, i.e., "second-generation" casualties, had higher rates of PTSD than did the control subjects, as well as a somewhat different clinical picture. Clinical and methodological implications of the findings are discussed.