Examining the Factor Structure of PTSD Between Male and Female Veterans in Primary Care

Researchers assessed possible gender differences between two prevailing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) models – the emotional numbing (e.g., re-experiencing, avoidance, emotional numbing and arousal) and dysphoria (e.g., re-experiencing, avoidance, dysphoria and arousal) models – in order to establish whether one model is more generalizable with regard to both genders in a sample of trauma-exposed (any lifetime trauma) U.S. Veterans. Results suggest that the “emotional numbing” model may be best for cross-gender comparisons of PTSD.