Eighteen-year follow-up study of Israeli prisoners of war and combat veterans

The current study assesses the psychological and psychiatric aftermath of war captivity; 164 Israeli ex-POWs and 189 comparable controls were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder, intrusion and avoidance tendencies, and generalized psychiatric symptomatology 18 years after the war. Findings indicated that trauma-related psychopathology and general psychiatric symptomatology were more prevalent among POWs than among their matched controls. In addition, captivity experience, social support at homecoming, and, above all, sociodemographic and military factors were found to be strongly correlated with the outcome measures. Theoretical and clinical implications of the aftermath of captivity are discussed.