Adverse race-related events as a risk factor for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Asian American Vietnam Veterans (2005)
With a sample of 300 Asian American Vietnam War veterans, Loo et al. studied the possible relationship between exposure to adverse race-related events during their military service and PTSD. The researches found that the risk of PTSD increased with exposure to racism. “Among those exposed to a single adverse race-related event (N = 55), 13% met full criteria for PTSD… Among those exposed to multiple events (N = 176), 36% met full criteria for race-related PTSD on the first event, and 35% met full criteria for PTSD on the second event.” The researchers acknowledged their limitations based on participants retrospective self-report. They attempted to offset this bias by asking participants to recall both negative and positive experiences.
Relevance to this documentary: We see here race-related discrimination–i.e. racism–can have a profound effect on the mental health of a person. Moreover, racism is shown here is a great divider, as it cleaves the cohesiveness of the military brotherhood.
Link (Google Scholar)