PTSD detection and symptom presentation: Racial/ethnic differences by gender among veterans with PTSD returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Background: To determine differences in positive PTSD screenings and symptom presentation by race/ethnicity and gender for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans diagnosed with PTSD.

Method: We conducted a retrospective analysis using existing records from Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who enrolled in VA care, received a post-deployment PTSD diagnosis, initiated mental health outpatient treatment between 10/01/07 and 12/31/11, and had a PTSD screen result at the start of treatment (N=79,938). PTSD outcomes were measured using the PC-PTSD and PCL.

Minimally adequate mental health care and latent classes of PTSD symptoms in female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Female veterans of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) represent a growing segment of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care users. A retrospective analysis used national VA medical records to identify factors associated with female OEF/OIF/OND veterans' completion of minimally adequate care (MAC) for PTSD, defined as the completion of at least nine mental health outpatient visits within a 15-week period or at least twelve consecutive weeks of medication use. The sample included female OEF/OIF/OND veterans with PTSD who initiated VA health care between 2007-2013, and were seen in outpatient mental health (N=2183).

Race/ethnicity and gender differences in mental health diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF; predominantly in Afghanistan) and Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn (OIF and OND; predominantly in Iraq) and are enrolled in the VA are comprised of a growing cohort of women and higher proportions of racial/ethnic minorities than civilians. To compare rates of mental health disorders by race/ethnicity and gender for this diverse cohort, we conducted a retrospective analysis of existing records from OEF/OIF/OND veterans who were seen at the VA 10/7/01-8/1/2013 (N=792,663). We found that race/ethnicity was related to diagnoses of mental health disorders.

Relationships between racial/ethnic minority status, therapeutic alliance, and treatment expectancies among veterans with PTSD.

Our objective was to examine the relationships between veterans' racial/ethnic minority status, components of therapeutic alliance (bond, tasks, and goals) with former outpatient providers, and expectancies for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) residential treatment. Veterans (N = 819; 37% minority, 63% White) completed surveys at intake into VA PTSD residential treatment programs. As hypothesized, racial/ethnic minority status was related to weaker overall alliance, therapeutic bond, and goal agreement with former outpatient provider.

Latent profiles of PTSD symptoms in women exposed to intimate partner violence.

Background: Studies have utilized latent class analysis (LCA) and latent profile analysis (LPA) to examine posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom profiles in a range of populations. Further study is needed to explore symptom profiles among women exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study examined latent symptom profiles in a sample of IPV-exposed women, and explored trauma-related cognitive appraisals associated with these PTSD symptom presentations.

Race-ethnicity and gender differences in VA health care service utilization among U.S. veterans of recent conflicts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare health care utilization patterns by race-ethnicity and gender among veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted with records from U.S.

Posttraumatic Cognitions, Somatization, and PTSD severity among Asian American and White College Women with Sexual Trauma Histories.

The need for trauma research with monoracial groups such as Asian Americans (AA) has recently been emphasized to better understand trauma experiences and inform interventions across populations. Given AA cultural contexts, posttraumatic cognitions and somatization may be key in understanding trauma experiences for this group. AA and White American (WA) trauma-exposed college women completed a survey on sexual trauma history, posttraumatic cognitions, somatic symptoms, and PTSD severity.

Use of drinking protective behavioral strategies and sexual perceptions and behaviors in U.S. college students.

Alcohol use among college students is linked to an increased likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors, including casual sex and unprotected sex. These behaviors increase college students' risks for negative social and health-related consequences. This study examined the relationship between drinking behaviors and protective behavioral strategies (PBS), expectancies and perceptions of sexual risk, and actual alcohol-related sexual behaviors and consequences.

Sexual assault, drinking norms, and drinking behavior among a national sample of lesbian and bisexual women.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and adolescent/adult sexual assault (ASA) are strongly associated with women's alcohol use and the rates of both alcohol use and sexual assault history are higher among lesbian and bisexual women than heterosexual women. Although descriptive drinking norms are one of the highest predictors of alcohol use in emerging adults, this is the first study to examine the relationship between sexual assault history, drinking norms, and alcohol use in lesbian and bisexual women. We found that CSA severity was associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing more severe alcohol-involved ASA, more severe physically forced ASA, and was indirectly associated with more drinking behavior and higher drinking norms.

The cultural context of nondisclosure of alcohol-involved acquaintance rape among Asian American college women: a qualitative study.

With high college enrollment and increasing alcohol use, Asian American (AA) college women may be at particular risk for experiencing alcohol-involved acquaintance rape. Although AA women have expressed the weakest intentions to report rape when compared to other ethnic groups, cultural factors influencing these intentions remain unexamined. Guided by grounded theory, 17 self-identified AA college women were interviewed about how the average AA college woman would respond to an alcohol-involved acquaintance rape.

Misogyny, acculturation, and ethnic identity: relation to rape-supportive attitudes in Asian American college men.

Asian Americans have been understudied with respect to sexuality and rape and its contributory factors. Some attitudinal research has shown that Asian American college males tend to hold more rape-supportive beliefs than their White counterparts. Generally, this research treats ethnicity as a proxy for culture rather than examining specific facets of culture per se.