Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in treatment-seeking veterans
- Knowles, K. A., Sripada, R. K., Defever, M., & Rauch, S. A. M. (2019). Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in treatment-seeking veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 11(4), 451–458. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000383
- Comorbidity is the rule and not the exception among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Examining comorbidities in a veteran population allows us to better understand veterans’ symptoms and recognize when mental health treatment may need to be tailored to other co-occurring issues. This article evaluates comorbid mood and anxiety disorders and PTSD symptom severity in a large sample of veterans from multiple eras of service, including the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans with PTSD were significantly more likely than those without PTSD to be diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and obsessive–compulsive disorder, but significantly less likely to be diagnosed with depression. In addition, veterans who had at least one comorbid diagnosis in addition to PTSD reported significantly higher PTSD symptom severity than veterans with PTSD alone. PTSD symptom severity also varied by era of service. These results suggest that among veterans seeking treatment for PTSD, comorbid mood and anxiety disorders may be associated with greater severity of PTSD symptoms. Future work is needed to determine the impact of specific comorbidities on trauma-focused treatment outcomes.
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