Student Veterans’ Coping with Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: A Glaserian Grounded Theory Study

Abstract

The present study investigated the ways in which student military veterans cope with their posttraumatic stress symptoms. The participants were a total of 21 military veterans attending a U.S. university. The results of the grounded theory data analysis reveal the core category of modulating intrusions, a process indicating how student veterans cope with recurrent and unwanted posttraumatic stress experiences. Our findings also demonstrate that veterans cope by either avoiding or allowing themselves to experience the pain associated from their traumatic experiences. The proposed framework can be meaningfully used to facilitate the development of adaptive coping among veterans with posttraumatic stress.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) School of Nursing Dean Research Support Fund.