Psychological well-being, PTSD, and their associations with eating disturbances in U.S. Veterans

Trauma is associated with disordered eating in many populations. Military personnel, a population with strict focus on maintaining body condition, experience traumatic events at a higher rate than civilian populations; however, little is known about the relationship between trauma and eating disturbances among service members and Veterans. This analysis evaluated the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and eating disturbances in a sample of postdeployment Veterans. The effect of potential confounding (e.g., age, sex, body mass index) and protective factors (positive affect and well-being [PAWB]) was also evaluated. Participants were 527 post-9/11 Veterans (80.7% male). All participants completed the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; the Neuro-QOL PAWB Scale; and the Eating Disturbances Scale as part of a multisite longitudinal study evaluating postdeployment mental health. Hierarchical linear regression evaluated direct and indirect effects of independent variables on eating disturbances. Analyses indicated lifetime PTSD diagnosis was no longer associated with eating disturbances after accounting for PAWB (B = 0.33, p = .29). The indirect effect of PAWB on the relationship between PTSD and eating disturbances was significant (B = 0.33, 95% confidence interval [0.53, 1.17]). Age, sex, and body mass index did not alter these relationships. Results support an association between PTSD and eating disturbances in the military population that does not appear to be contingent upon demographic factors. Further, analyses suggest that PAWB may function as a key influence for positive adjustment among Veterans at risk for eating disturbances. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).