On Public Stigma of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Effects of Military vs. Civilian Setting and Sexual vs. Physical Trauma.

Some research indicates that public stigma of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be relatively benign compared to other psychiatric conditions. However, the severity of PTSD stigma may vary as a function of the setting—military vs. civilian—for a traumatic event and the type of trauma—sexual assault vs. physical assault—that a person experiences. In an online experiment, 870 participants read vignettes in which a woman protagonist experienced a traumatic assault. The vignettes systematically varied as to (1) the military vs. civilian setting of the assault, (2) the type of assault—sexual vs. physical—that she experienced, and (3) whether she was diagnosed with PTSD in the aftermath of the assault. Measures of self-reported social distance and several affective, attitudinal, and behavioral dimensions of stigma were administered. Results indicated that the presence vs. absence of a PTSD diagnosis substantially increased public stigma across several measures. Less consistent but nevertheless noteworthy effects of setting and type of trauma also emerged. The current results valuably add to the small body of knowledge on PTSD stigma and highlight avenues for future research on this damaging phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]