Predictors of posttraumatic stress and appetitive aggression in active soldiers and former combatants

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptives of active soldiers and ex-combatants

Variable	Active soldiers (n=554)	Ex-combatants (n=391)	Statistics
Former rebel, No. (%)	184 (33.21)	129 (32.99)	χ ^2 (1, 945) = 0.01
Traumatic event types, M (SD) [range]	10.02 (3.10) [0–17]	13.64 (2.39) [6–19]	t 935.92=20.32***, d=1.28
Childhood maltreatment, M (SD) [range]	0.48 (0.82) [0–4]	1.06 (1.08) [0–4]	t 693.10=8.97***, d=0.62
Self-committed violence, M (SD) [range]	4.04 (3.18) [0–13]	8.59 (3.23) [0–14]	t 943.00=21.57***, d=1.42
PSS-I sum score, M (SD) [range]	3.04 (4.66) [0–32]	13.63 (11.31) [0–42]	t 484.10=17.50***, d=1.31
AAS sum score, M (SD) [range]	19.75 (10.62) [0–46]	28.37 (14.51) [0–58]	t 672.84=10.01***, d = 0.70

M= mean, SD=standard derivation; asterisks indicate statistical significance: *p<0.05, *p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

Table 2 Robust multiple linear regression analysis predicting PTSD symptom severity (Model 1) and appetitive aggression (Model 2)

	Model 1		Model 2
	PTSD symptom severity		Appetitive aggression
Predictor variables	β	t	β	t
Group^a	−0.25	−10.41***	0.13	3.61***
Traumatic event types	0.29	11.93***	0.22	5.75***
Childhood maltreatment	0.18	7.45***	<−0.01	−0.07
Self-committed violence	–	–	0.52	14.07***
Traumatic event types * childhood maltreatment	0.11	4.18***	–	–
Traumatic event types * self-committed violence	–	–	–	–
Childhood maltreatment * self-committed violence	–	–	0.09	3.20***
Group^a * traumatic event types	−0.17	−6.48***	−0.10	−2.57*
Group^a * childhood maltreatment	−0.05	−2.39*	–	–
Group^a * self-committed violence	–	–	−0.09	−2.27*

β=standardized regression coefficient. R ² _adj (Model 1)=0.43, R ² _adj (Model 2)=0.39.

Asterisks indicate statistical significance: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001. ^aEx-combatants were used as the reference group.

Fig. 1 Relationship between the number of traumatic event types, childhood maltreatment, and PTSD symptom severity. At any given level of exposure to traumatic events, PTSD symptoms increase alongside childhood maltreatment and vice versa—with increasingly different types of childhood maltreatment, PTSD symptoms increase alongside the experience of multiple traumatic stressors. PTSD symptom severity is more pronounced in ex-combatants at all levels of both predictors.

Fig. 2 Relationship between the number of traumatic event types, self-committed violence, and appetitive aggression. With increasingly different types of traumatic events, appetitive aggression increases alongside self-committed violence. The highest levels of appetitive aggression are found in ex-combatants; however, at the same level of predictors, appetitive aggression is more pronounced in active soldiers.