Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T01:28:35.175Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 10 - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Men

from Section 2 - Body Image and Anxiety Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

By
Sonia Terhaag ,
David J. Pedder ,
Alyssa M. Sbisa  and
David Forbes
Edited by
David Castle  and
David Coghill
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
David Coghill
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Get access

Summary

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that may develop following exposure to a potentially traumatic event. In developing our understanding of PTSD, identifying potential differences in prevalence, development, maintenance, and prognosis between sexes (Olff, 2017; Breslau, 2002) has been of great interest. Many theories and models have been developed to try to explain sex differences, and improve understanding, treatment, and recovery from this disorder. This chapter provides a snapshot of the current state of knowledge of PTSD with a special focus on the disorder in men, as well as providing insight into future directions and innovative approaches for studying and treating PTSD.

Type
Chapter
Information
Comprehensive Men's Mental Health , pp. 106 - 118
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, B., Brewin, C. R., and Rose, S. 2003. Gender, social support, and PTSD in victims of violent crime. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16, 421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, J. G., Coffey, S. F., Foy, D. W., Keane, T. M., and Blanchard, E. B. 2009. Group cognitive behavior therapy for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: an initial randomized pilot study. Behavior Therapy, 40, 82–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berger, W., Coutinho, E. S. F., Figueira, I., Marques-Portella, C., Luz, M. P., Neylan, T. C., Marmar, C. R., and Mendlowicz, M. V. 2012. Rescuers at risk: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of the worldwide current prevalence and correlates of PTSD in rescue workers. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 47, 1001–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernardy, N. C., Lund, B. C., Alexander, B., Jenkyn, A. B., Schnurr, P. P., and Friedman, M. J. 2013. Gender differences in prescribing among veterans diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28 Suppl 2, S542–S548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blain, L. M., Galovski, T. E., and Robinson, T. 2010. Gender differences in recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder: a critical review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 463–74.Google Scholar
Boasso, A. M., Steenkamp, M. M., Nash, W. P., Larson, J. L., and Litz, B. T. 2015. The relationship between course of PTSD symptoms in deployed US Marines and degree of combat exposure. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 73–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowler, R. M., Han, H., Gocheva, V., Nakagawa, S., Alper, H., Digrande, L., and Cone, J. E. 2010. Gender differences in probable posttraumatic stress disorder among police responders to the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attack. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 53, 1186–96.Google Scholar
Bowler, R. M., Harris, M., LI, J., Gocheva, V., Stellman, S. D., Wilson, K., Alper, H., Schwarzer, R., and Cone, J. E. 2012. Longitudinal mental health impact among police responders to the 9/11 terrorist attack. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 55, 297–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bremner, J. D., Southwick, S. M., Johnson, D. R., Yehuda, R., and Charney, D. S. 1993. Childhood physical abuse and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150(2), 235–9.Google Scholar
Breslau, N. 2002. Gender differences in trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine, 5, 34–40.Google Scholar
Breslau, N., Kessler, R. C., Chilcoat, H. D., Schultz, L. R., Davis, G. C., and AndreskI, P. 1998. Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in the community: the 1996 Detroit Area Survey of Trauma. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 626–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brewin, C. R., Andrews, B., and Valentine, J. D. 2000. Meta-analysis of risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder in trauma-exposed adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 748–66.Google Scholar
CarmassI, C., Akiskal, H., Bessonov, D., Massimetti, G., Calderani, E., Stratta, P., Rossi, A., and Dell, L. 2014. Gender differences in DSM-5 versus DSM-IV-TR PTSD prevalence and criteria comparison among 512 survivors to the L׳ Aquila earthquake. Journal of Affective Disorders, 160, 55–61.Google Scholar
Carragher, N., Sunderland, M., Batterham, P. J., Calear, A. L., Elhai, J. D., Chapman, C., and Mills, K. 2016. Discriminant validity and gender differences in DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 190, 56–67.Google Scholar
Cash, R., Varker, T., Mchugh, T., Metcalf, O., Howard, A., Lloyd, D., Costello, J., Said, D., and Forbes, D. 2018. Effectiveness of an Anger Intervention for Military Members with PTSD: A Clinical Case Series. Military Medicine, 183(9–10), e286–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castillo, D. T., Baca, J. C. D., Conforti, K., Qualls, C., and Fallon, S. K. 2002. Anger in PTSD: general psychiatric and gender differences on the BDHI. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 7, 119–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chapman, C., Mills, K., Slade, T., Mcfarlane, A. C., Bryant, R., Creamer, M., Silove, D., and Teesson, M. 2012. Remission from post-traumatic stress disorder in the general population. Psychological Medicine, 42, 1695–1703.Google Scholar
Coker, A. L., Weston, R., Creson, D. L., Justice, B., and Blakeney, P. 2005. PTSD symptoms among men and women survivors of intimate partner violence: the role of risk and protective factors. Violence and Victims, 20, 625.Google Scholar
Creamer, M., Burgess, P., and Mcfarlane, A. C. 2001. Post-traumatic stress disorder: findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1237–47.Google Scholar
Creamer, M. and Parslow, R. 2008. Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder in the elderly: a community prevalence study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 16, 853–6.Google Scholar
Ditlevsen, D. N. and Elklit, A. 2010. The combined effect of gender and age on post traumatic stress disorder: do men and women show differences in the lifespan distribution of the disorder? Annals of General Psychiatry, 9, 32.Google Scholar
Ditlevsen, D. N. and Elklit, A. 2012. Gender, trauma type, and PTSD prevalence: a re-analysis of 18 nordic convenience samples. Annals of General Psychiatry, 11, 26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Douglas, E. M. and Hines, D. A. 2011. The helpseeking experiences of men who sustain intimate partner violence: an overlooked population and implications for practice. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 473–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ehlers, A., Clark, D. M., Hackmann, A., McManus, F., Fennell, M., Herbert, C., and Mayou, R. 2003. A randomized controlled trial of cognitive therapy, a self-help booklet, and repeated assessments as early interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(10), 1024–32. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.60.10.1024Google Scholar
Foster, J. D., Kuperminc, G. P., and Price, A. W. 2004. Gender differences in posttraumatic stress and related symptoms among inner-city minority youth exposed to community violence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 33, 59–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galatzer‐Levy, I. R., Nickerson, A., Litz, B. T., and Marmar, C. R. 2013. Patterns of lifetime PTSD comorbidity: a latent class analysis. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 489–96.Google Scholar
Galovski, T. E., Blain, L. M., Chappuis, C., and Fletcher, T. 2013. Sex differences in recovery from PTSD in male and female interpersonal assault survivors. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51, 247–55.Google Scholar
Gonçalves, R., Pedrozo, A. L., Freire Coutinho, E. S., Figueira, I., and Ventura, P. 2012. Efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy in the treatment of PTSD: a systematic review. PLoS ONE, 7, 1–7.Google Scholar
Gradus, J. L., Qin, P., Lincoln, A. K., Miller, M., Lawler, E., Sørensen, H. T., and Lash, T. L. 2010. Posttraumatic stress disorder and completed suicide. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171, 721–7.Google Scholar
Harpaz-Rotem, I., Rosenheck, R. A., Mohamed, S., and Desai, R. A. 2008. Pharmacologic treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder among privately insured americans. Psychiatric Services, 1184.Google Scholar
Hoge, C. W., Koffman, R. L., Castro, C. A., Messer, S. C., Mcgurk, D., and Cotting, D. I. 2004. Combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care. The New England Journal of Medicine, 13.Google Scholar
Hoskins, M., Pearce, J., Bethell, A., Dankova, L., Bisson, J. I., Barbui, C., Tol, W. A., Van Ommeren, M., De Jong, J., Seedat, S., and Chen, H. 2015. Pharmacotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 206, 93–100.Google Scholar
Hourani, L., Williams, J., Bray, R. M., Wilk, J. E., and Hoge, C. W. 2016. Gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder and help seeking in the US Army. Journal of Women’s Health, 25, 22–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakupcak, M. and Tull, M. T. 2005. Effects of trauma exposure on anger, aggression, and violence in a nonclinical sample of men. Violence and Victims, 20, 589.Google Scholar
de Jong, J. T., Komproe, I. H., Van Ommeren, M., El Masri, M., Araya, M., Khaled, N., van De Put, W., and Somasundaram, D. (2001). Lifetime events and posttraumatic stress disorder in 4 postconflict settings. JAMA, 286(5), 555–62. doi:10.1001/jama.286.5.555Google Scholar
Karlović, D., Serretti, A., Vrkić, N., Martinac, M., and Marčinko, D. 2012. Serum concentrations of CRP, IL-6, TNF-α and cortisol in major depressive disorder with melancholic or atypical features. Psychiatry Research, 198, 74–80.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., and Walters, E. E. 2005. Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593–602.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., and Nelson, C. B. 1995. Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–60.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, D. W., Taft, C., King, L. A., Hammond, C., and Stone, E. R. 2006. Directionality of the association between social support and posttraumatic stress disorder: a longitudinal investigation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2980–92.Google Scholar
Krysinska, K. and Lester, D. 2010. Post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide risk: a systematic review. Archives of Suicide Research, 14, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, H., Petukhova, M. V., Sampson, N. A., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., Andrade, L. H., Bromet, E. J., De Girolamo, G., Haro, J. M., and Hinkov, H. 2017. Association of DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder with traumatic experience type and history in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. JAMA Psychiatry, 74, 270–81.Google Scholar
Loo, G. T., Dimaggio, C. J., Gershon, R. R., Canton, D. B., Morse, S. S., and Galea, S. 2016. Coping behavior and risk of post-traumatic stress disorder among federal disaster responders. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 10, 108–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maercker, A., Forstmeier, S., Wagner, B., Glaesmer, H., and Brähler, E. 2008. Post-traumatic stress disorder in Germany. Results of a nationwide epidemiological study. Der Nervenarzt, 79, 577–86.Google ScholarPubMed
Maguen, S., Ren, L., Bosch, J. O., Marmar, C. R., and Seal, K. H. 2010. Gender differences in mental health diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled in veterans affairs health care. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 2450–6.Google Scholar
Marshall, R. D., Beebe, K. L., Oldham, M., and Zaninelli, R. 2001. Efficacy and safety of paroxetine treatment for chronic PTSD: a fixed-dose, placebo-controlled study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1982.Google Scholar
Mclean, C. P., Asnaani, A., Litz, B. T., and Hofmann, S. G. 2011. Gender differences in anxiety disorders: prevalence, course of illness, comorbidity and burden of illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45, 1027–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mills, K. L., Mcfarlane, A. C., Slade, T., Creamer, M., Silove, D., Teesson, M., and Bryant, R. 2011. Assessing the prevalence of trauma exposure in epidemiological surveys. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 407–15.Google Scholar
Morris, M. C., Hellman, N., Abelson, J. L., and Rao, U. 2016. Cortisol, heart rate, and blood pressure as early markers of PTSD risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 49, 79–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulchahey, J. J., Ekhator, N. N., Zhang, H., Kasckow, J. W., Baker, D. G., and Geracioti, T. D. 2001. Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma testosterone levels in post-traumatic stress disorder and tobacco dependence. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 26, 273–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, D. and Busuttil, W. 2015. PTSD, stigma and barriers to help-seeking within the UK Armed Forces. Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps, 161, 322–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nexhmedin, M., Wicherts, J. M., Lobbrecht, J., and Priebe, S. 2014. Remission from post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of long term outcome studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 34, 249–55.Google Scholar
Nickerson, A., Creamer, M., Forbes, D., Mcfarlane, A. C., OʼDonnell, M. L., Silove, D., Steel, Z., Felmingham, K., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D., and Bryant, R. A. 2017. The longitudinal relationship between post-traumatic stress disorder and perceived social support in survivors of traumatic injury. Psychological Medicine, 115.Google Scholar
Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, C. M., Diaz, E., and Kaniasty, K. 2002. 60,000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature, 1981–2001. Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 65, 207–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norris, F. H., Perilla, J. L., and Murphy, A. D. 2001. Postdisaster stress in the United States and Mexico: a cross-cultural test of the multicriterion conceptual model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 553.Google Scholar
Olff, M. 2017. Sex and gender differences in post-traumatic stress disorder: an update. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olff, M., Langeland, W., Draijer, N., and Gersons, B. P. 2007. Gender differences in posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Passos, I. C., VAsconcelos-Moreno, M. P., Costa, L. G., Kunz, M., Brietzke, E., Quevedo, J., Salum, G., Magalhães, P. V., Kapczinski, F., and Kauer-Sant’anna, M. 2015. Inflammatory markers in post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 1002–12.Google Scholar
Reijnen, A., Geuze, E., and Vermetten, E. 2015. The effect of deployment to a combat zone on testosterone levels and the association with the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms: a longitudinal prospective Dutch military cohort study. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 51, 525–33.Google Scholar
Roberts, A. L., Austin, S. B., Corliss, H. L., Vandermorris, A. K., and Koenen, K. C. 2010. Pervasive trauma exposure among US sexual orientation minority adults and risk of posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 2433–41.Google Scholar
Rothbaum, B. O., Rizzo, A. S., and Difede, J. 2010. Virtual reality exposure therapy for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1208, 126–32.Google Scholar
Smith, B. N., Vaughn, R. A., Vogt, D., King, M. W., and Shipherd, J. C. 2013. Main and interactive effects of social support in predicting mental health symptoms in men and women following military stressor exposure. Anxiety, Stress and Coping, 26, 52–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sonne, S. C., Back, S. E., Zuniga, C. D., Randall, C. L., and Brady, K. T. 2003. Gender differences in individuals with comorbid alcohol dependence and post-traumatic stress disorder. American Journal on Addictions, 12, 412–23.Google Scholar
Spivak, B., Maayan, R., Mester, R., and Weizman, A. 2003. Plasma testosterone levels in patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Neuropsychobiology, 47, 57–60.Google Scholar
Stalder, T., Steudte-Schmiedgen, S., Alexander, N., Klucken, T., Vater, A., Wichmann, S., Kirschbaum, C., and Miller, R. 2017. Stress-related and basic determinants of hair cortisol in humans: a meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 77, 261–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steudte-Schmiedgen, S., Stalder, T., Schönfeld, S., Wittchen, H.-U., Trautmann, S., Alexander, N., Miller, R., and Kirschbaum, C. 2015. Hair cortisol concentrations and cortisol stress reactivity predict PTSD symptom increase after trauma exposure during military deployment. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 59, 123–33.Google Scholar
Tolin, D. F. and Foa, E. B. 2002. Gender and PTSD: A cognitive model. In: Kimerling, R. P. O. and Wolfe, J. (eds) Gender and PTSD. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Tolin, D. F. and Foa, E. B. 2006. Sex differences in trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder: a quantitative review of 25 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 959.Google Scholar
Ullman, S. E. and Filipas, H. H. 2005. Gender differences in social reactions to abuse disclosures, post-abuse coping, and PTSD of child sexual abuse survivors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 29, 767–82.Google Scholar
Wade, D., Varker, T., Kartal, D., O’Donnell, M., Forbes, D., and Hetrick, S. 2016. Gender difference in outcomes following trauma-focused interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 8, 356–64.Google Scholar
Weeks, W., Watts, B. V., Young, Y., Schnurr, P. P., Friedman, M. J., Mayo, L., and Weeks, W. B. 2013. Meta-analysis of the efficacy of treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74, E541–E550.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. A. B., Onorati, K., Mishkind, M., Reger, M. A., and Gahm, G. A. 2008. Soldier attitudes about technology-based approaches to mental health care. Cyberpsychology and Behavior: The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 11, 767–9.Google Scholar
Woodhead, C., Wessely, S., Jones, N., Fear, N. T., and Hatch, S. L. 2012. Impact of exposure to combat during deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on mental health by gender. Psychological Medicine, 42, 1985–96.Google Scholar
Yuen, E. K., Gros, D. F., Price, M., Zeigler, S., Tuerk, P. W., Foa, E. B., and Acierno, R. 2015. Randomized controlled trial of home-based telehealth versus in-person prolonged exposure for combat-related ptsd in veterans: preliminary results. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 71, 500–12.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×