Citation

Kaiser AP, Park CL, King LA, King DW, Schuster J, Spiro A, Moore JL, Kaloupek DG, Keane TM. J. Trauma. Stress 2011; 24(6): 680-690.

Affiliation

VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine. anica.plesskaiser@va.gov.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/jts.20695

PMID

22147391

Abstract

Captivity stressors and coping strategies were assessed shortly after the repatriation of Vietnam-era prisoners of war, and physical and mental health were assessed almost three decades later. Given research on coping goodness-of-fit, specifically the extent to which coping effects depend on situational controllability, we proposed that endorsement of the usefulness of avoidance-based strategies in captivity would be predictive of better later-life health. Findings indicated that approach-based and avoidance-based coping both moderated the link between physical torture and later physical health functional status, whereas approach-based coping moderated the link between injuries at capture and later mental health. Specifically, greater endorsement of avoidance-based coping was associated with better long-term physical health for prisoners who experienced the most physical torture. Lower endorsement of approach-based coping was associated with better long-term mental health for prisoners who reported the most injuries at the time of capture.

Language: en