Kerr Katelyn, Mellor Rebecca, Bennett Darcy, Wellauer Richard, McGaw Violette
Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, School of Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, QLD, Australia.
Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation, Greenslopes Private Hospital, Greenslopes, QLD, Australia.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2025 Jan;59(1):40-47. doi: 10.1177/00048674241289027. Epub 2024 Oct 28.
The trauma most commonly associated with the military is combat-related trauma. It is increasingly recognised that childhood sexual and physical abuse and military sexual assault may influence or exacerbate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when military members are exposed to combat.
The study aimed to determine whether a history of childhood sexual and physical abuse would increase the likelihood of military sexual assault (MSA) and determine whether a history of sexual abuse (childhood or military) impacted the incidence and severity of post-trauma sequelae compared to veterans without this history.
A retrospective correlational analysis was performed on baseline data collected from clinical case records of a cohort of 134 Australian veterans with PTSD who had attended an outpatient Military Service Trauma Recovery Day Programme between October 2020 and May 2022.
Almost half (48.5%) of veterans reported a history of abuse. Prevalence rates of military sexual abuse, child sexual abuse and child physical abuse were 14.9%, 13.4% and 23.1% respectively. The relationship between those who experienced childhood abuse and those who experienced military sexual abuse was not significant. No significant differences were observed between those who experienced any sexual abuse and those who did not on intake scores of psychological symptoms.
This is the first Australian study to investigate the prevalence of childhood abuse and military sexual abuse and its impact on PTSD and associated psychopathology in a sample of veterans seeking mental health treatment. No additional risks of experiencing military sexual assault were found for those who had survived childhood sexual abuse.
与军事相关的创伤中最常见的是与战斗有关的创伤。人们越来越认识到，童年时期的性虐待和身体虐待以及军事性侵犯，在军人接触战斗时可能会影响或加剧创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。
该研究旨在确定童年性虐待和身体虐待史是否会增加军事性侵犯（MSA）的可能性，并确定与没有这种病史的退伍军人相比，性虐待史（童年或军事）是否会影响创伤后后遗症的发生率和严重程度。
对2020年10月至2022年5月期间参加门诊军事服务创伤恢复日项目的134名患有创伤后应激障碍的澳大利亚退伍军人的临床病例记录中收集的基线数据进行回顾性相关分析。
近一半（48.5%）的退伍军人报告有虐待史。军事性虐待、儿童性虐待和儿童身体虐待的患病率分别为14.9%、13.4%和23.1%。经历过童年虐待的人与经历过军事性虐待的人之间的关系不显著。在心理症状的入院评分方面，经历过任何性虐待的人与未经历过性虐待的人之间未观察到显著差异。
这是澳大利亚第一项研究童年虐待和军事性虐待的患病率及其对寻求心理健康治疗的退伍军人样本中创伤后应激障碍和相关精神病理学影响的研究。对于那些童年时期遭受过性虐待的幸存者，未发现有额外的遭受军事性侵犯的风险。
