Psychological benefits and liabilities of traumatic exposure in the war zone.

Data from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study on 1,198 Vietnam theater veterans were used to examine the psychological benefits and liabilities of traumatic exposure in the war zone. Psychological benefits and liabilities were found to be largely independent of one another and to be related positively to the dose of traumatic exposure. Additionally, there was a curvilinear trend in the form of an inverted U, such that psychological benefits, most notably solidarity with others, were stronger at intermediate compared to high and low levels of exposure. Psychological benefits counteracted and psychological liabilities passed through the effects of traumatic exposure on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The psychological benefit of self-improvement moderated the effects of the psychological liability of self-impoverishment on PTSD.