Polusny Melissa A, Dickinson Kelly A, Murdoch Maureen, Thuras Paul
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2008 Mar-Apr;30(2):162-70. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2007.11.006.
To examine the role of alexithymia (difficulties identifying one's emotions) in understanding the link between PTSD symptoms and negative health outcomes in sexually victimized female veterans. We hypothesized that having experienced multiple types of sexual trauma across the lifespan, experiencing greater severity of PTSD symptoms, and reporting difficulties in identifying emotions would be associated with increased negative health outcomes.
Anonymous cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of 456 female veterans enrolled in a VA clinic within the prior year. Data collected included demographics, lifetime trauma exposure, psychological and medical symptoms, emotion recognition problems (alexithymia), health-risk behaviors, and health care utilization.
A total of 57.5% of participants reported a lifetime history of sexual trauma. After controlling for sexual trauma history, PTSD symptoms, and other well-established predictors of health care utilization in the VA medical system such as pre-disposing, enabling and need-based factors, hierarchical regression analyses showed that alexithymia independently explained unique variance in participants' physical health complaints and in their odds of reporting at least one outpatient urgent care visit in the past year.
These data suggest that emotion recognition problems may contribute to poorer health outcomes in sexually traumatized women veterans beyond what is explained by sexual trauma exposure, health risk behaviors and PTSD. Psychological interventions that enhance emotion identification skills for women who have experienced sexual trauma could improve health perceptions and reduce need for acute health care.
探讨述情障碍（难以识别自身情绪）在理解遭受性侵犯的女性退伍军人创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状与负面健康结果之间联系中的作用。我们假设，在一生中经历多种类型的性创伤、经历更严重的PTSD症状以及报告在识别情绪方面存在困难，将与更多负面健康结果相关。
对去年在退伍军人事务部（VA）诊所登记的456名女性退伍军人便利样本进行匿名横断面调查。收集的数据包括人口统计学资料、终生创伤暴露情况、心理和医学症状、情绪识别问题（述情障碍）、健康风险行为以及医疗保健利用情况。
共有57.5%的参与者报告有终生性创伤史。在控制了性创伤史、PTSD症状以及VA医疗系统中其他已确立的医疗保健利用预测因素（如易患因素、促成因素和基于需求的因素）后，分层回归分析表明，述情障碍独立解释了参与者身体健康投诉的独特差异以及她们在过去一年中报告至少一次门诊紧急护理就诊几率的独特差异。
这些数据表明，情绪识别问题可能导致遭受性创伤的女性退伍军人出现更差的健康结果，这超出了性创伤暴露、健康风险行为和PTSD所能解释的范围。针对经历过性创伤的女性加强情绪识别技能的心理干预措施，可能会改善她们对健康的认知，并减少对急性医疗保健的需求。
