Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder has been associated with adverse health outcomes. The extent to which the health effects of PTSD differ from other diagnoses has not been explored empirically. The current study investigated the Multidimensional Health Profile (including both Psychosocial and Health factors), across three diagnostic groups and one group of well-adjusted participants (N = 92) in a contrasted-groups design. Participants were all trauma-exposed and were assessed using structured clinical interviews. The PTSD and depression groups tended to differ from the social phobia and well-adjusted groups. Both the PTSD and depression groups demonstrated elevated profiles on variables assessing psychological distress, negative social exchange, and hypochondriasis. Results are consistent with prior research suggesting PTSD is associated with worse psychological and health functioning relative to trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD, although these health outcomes seem to differ little between those with PTSD and those with depression.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (APA). (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Barsky, A. J., Wyshak, G., & Klerman, G. L. (1992). Psychiatric comorbidity in DSM-III-R hypochondriasis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 101–108.
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck depression inventory (2nd ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.
Blake, D. D., Weathers, F. W., Nagy, L. M., Kaloupek, D. G., Gusman, F. D., Charney, D. S., et al. (1995). The development of a clinician-administered PTSD scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 75–90. doi:10.1007/BF02105408.
Calhoun, P. S., Bosworth, H. B., Grambow, S. C., Dudley, T. K., & Beckham, J. C. (2002). Medical service utilization by veterans seeking help for posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 2081–2086.
Calhoun, P. S., Wiley, M., Dennis, M. E., & Beckham, J. C. (2009). Self-reported health and physician diagnosed illnesses in women with posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22, 122–130. doi:10.1002/jts.20400.
Chilcoat, H. D., & Menard, C. (2003). Epidemiological investigations: Comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. In P. Ouimette & P. J. Brown (Eds.), Trauma and substance abuse: Causes, consequences, and treatment of comorbid disorders (pp. 9–28). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
DuPont, R. L., Rice, D. P., Miller, L. S., Shiraki, S. S., Rowland, C. R., & Harwood, H. J. (1996). Economic costs of anxiety disorders. Anxiety, 2, 167–172.
First, M. B., Gibbon, M., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (1996). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Flood, A. M., McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., Weathers, F. W., Eakin, D. E., & Benson, T. A. (2009). Substance use behaviors as a mediator between posttraumatic stress disorder and physical health in trauma-exposed college students. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23, 234–243. doi:10.1007/s10865-008-9195-y.
Grant, D. M., Beck, J. G., Marques, L., Palyo, S. A., & Clapp, J. D. (2008). The structure of distress following trauma: Posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 662–672. doi:10.1037/a0012591.
Greenberg, P. E., Sisitsky, T., Kessler, R. C., Finkelstein, S. N., Berndt, E. R., Davidson, J. R. T., et al. (1999). The economic burden of anxiety disorders in the 1990s. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60, 427–435.
Heiligenstein, E., Guenther, G., Hsu, K., & Herman, K. (1996). Depression and academic impairment in college students. Journal of American College Health, 45, 59–64.
Holahan, C. J., Pahl, S. A., Cronkite, R. C., Holahan, C. K., North, R. J., & Moos, R. H. (2010). Depression and vulnerability to incident physical illness across 10 years. Journal of Affective Disorders, 123, 222–229. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2009.10.006.
Jacobsen, L. K., Southwick, S. M., & Kosten, T. R. (2001). Substance use disorders in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 1184–1190.
Karoly, P., Ruehlman, L. S., & Lanyon, R. I. (2005). The assessment of adult health care orientations: Development and preliminary validation of the Multidimensional Health Profile – Health Functioning Scales (MHP-H) in a national sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 12, 79–91. doi:10.1007/s10880-005-0915-y.
Kessler, R. C., & Greenberg, P. E. (2002). The economic burden of anxiety and stress disorders. In K. L. Davis, D. Charney, J. T. Coyle, & C. Nemeroff (Eds.), Neuropsychopharmacology: The fifth generation of progress (pp. 981–992). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
King, D. W., Taft, C., King, L. A., Hammond, C., & Stone, E. R. (2006). Directionality of the association between social support and posttraumatic stress disorder: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2980–2992. doi:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00138.x.
Lawler, C., Ouimette, P., & Dahlstedt, D. (2005). Posttraumatic stress symptoms, coping, and physical health status among university students seeking health care. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18, 741–750. doi:10.1002/jts.20082.
Lewis, M. A., & Neighbors, C. (2004). Gender-specific misconceptions of college student drinking norms. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 334–339. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.18.4.334.
Lincoln, K. D. (2008). Personality, negative interactions and mental health. Social Science Review, 82, 223–252. doi:10.1086/589462.
Mattick, R. P., & Clark, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia, scrutiny, fear, and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455–470. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(97)10031-6.
McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., Murphy, J. G., Monahan, C. J., Flood, A. M., & Weathers, F. W. (2010). Unique patterns of substance misuse associated with PTSD, depression, and social phobia. Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 6, 94–110. doi:10.1080/15504261003701445.
McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., Williams, J. L., Bracken, K. L., Fields, J. A., Monahan, C. J., & Murphy, J. G. (2010). PTSD symptoms, hazardous drinking, and health functioning among U.S. OEF and OIF veterans presenting to primary care. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23, 108–111. doi:10.1002/jts.20482.
Morrell, J. S., & Rubin, L. J. (2001). The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – 2, posttraumatic stress disorder, and women domestic violence survivors. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 32, 151–156. doi:10.1037//0735-7028.32.2.151.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Perkonigg, A., Owashi, T., Stein, M. B., Kirschbaum, C., & Wittchen, H. (2009). Posttraumatic stress disorder and obesity: Evidence for a risk association. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36, 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.09.026.
Ruehlman, L. S., Lanyon, R. I., & Karoly, P. (1998). Multidimensional health profile professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
Ruehlman, L. S., Lanyon, R. I., & Karoly, P. (1999). Development and validation of the Multidimensional Health Profile, Part I: Psychosocial functioning. Psychological Assessment, 11, 166–176. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.11.2.166.
Schnurr, P. P., & Spiro, A. (1999). Combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and health behaviors as predictors of self-reported physical health in older veterans. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187, 353–359.
Stewart, S. H., Pihl, R. O., Conrod, P. J., & Dongier, M. (1998). Functional associations among trauma, PTSD, and substance-related disorders. Addictive Behaviors, 23, 797–812. doi:10.1016/S0306-4603(98)00070-7.
Walker, E. A., Katon, W., Russo, J., Ciechanowski, P., Newman, E., & Wagner, A. W. (2003). Health care costs associated with posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in women. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 369–374.
Walker, E. A., Newman, E., & Koss, M. P. (2004). Costs and health care utilization associated with traumatic experiences. In P. P. Schnurr & B. L. Green (Eds.), Trauma and health: Physical heatlh consequences of exposure to extreme stress (pp. 43–69). Washington: American Psychological Association.
Weathers, F. W., Litz, B. T., Herman, D. S., Huska, J. A., & Keane, T. M. (1993). The PTSD checklist: Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, San Antonio, TX.
Weathers, F. W., Ruscio, A. M., & Keane, T. M. (1999). Psychometric properties of nine scoring rules for the clinician-administered posttraumatic stress disorder scale. Psychological Assessment, 11, 124–133. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.11.2.124.
Yehuda, R., Teicher, M. H., Trestman, R. L., Levengood, R. A., & Siever, L. J. (1996). Cortisol regulation in posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression: A chronobiological analysis. Society of Biological Psychiatry, 40, 79–88. doi:10.1016/0006-3223(95)00451-3.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA016120) to Meghan E. McDevitt-Murphy and by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Williams, J.L., McDevitt-Murphy, M.E., Fields, J.A. et al. A Comparison of Multidimensional Health Profiles across Three Trauma-Exposed Diagnostic Groups. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 33, 531–539 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-011-9251-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-011-9251-8