Dangerous behavior by Viet Nam veterans with schizophrenia.

The military histories of 80 Viet Nam era veterans diagnosed as schizophrenic by DSM-III criteria were examined in relation to measures of dangerous and violent acts. Thirty of the subjects had been in Viet Nam, and 20 of these had been in combat. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that high scores on several inpatient and outpatient measures of violence and dangerousness were significantly related to combat experience in Viet Nam and particularly to either killing or witnessing killings of the enemy. It appears that violence-related activities learned in Viet Nam continue to influence the behavior of schizophrenic patients.