ANGER IN PTSD: GENERAL PSYCHIATRIC AND GENDER DIFFERENCES ON THE BDHI

Abstract

Anger was examined through the use of the Buss Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI) in male veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),male veterans with other psychiatric disorders, and women with sexual-trauma-related PTSD. Male veterans with PTSD scored higher on the BDHI Assault, Irritability, Negativism, and Verbal Hostility scales than male veterans with other psychiatric diagnoses, which supports past research. In addition, male veterans with combat-related PTSD scored higher than women with sexual-trauma-related PTSD on the Assault, Indirect Hostility, Irritability, and Verbal Hostility scales of the BDHI. Scale differences are attributed to diagnosis and gender, while some nonsignificant differences are discussed as characteristic of PTSD.