Long-term adjustment among Israeli war veterans: The role of attachment style

This study examines the role of attachment in the long-term adjustment of Israeli veterans. The sample of participants comprised three groups of Israeli veterans who fought in the 1973 Yom Kippur War: 112 combat stress reaction (CSR) casualties, 98 veterans who received medals for bravery, and 189 controls. The CSR casualties reported higher levels of emotional distress than did participants in the two other groups. CSR veterans also showed the lowest levels of secure attachment characteristics. Additionally, the findings revealed different relationships between the avoidant style of attachment and emotional distress measures across the research groups. The implications of these findings are discussed according to two theoretical models of attachment

Combat Exposure, Wartime Performance, and Long-Term Adjustment Among Combatants

This study examined the contribution of exposure to specific battlefield stressors (life-threatening situations, injuries and death, active fighting, and the fallibilities of one's own army) to combatants' battlefield functioning and long-term psychological adjustment. Participants consisted of 399 Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, categorized by their wartime functioning into 3 groups: combat stress reaction (CSR) casualties, decorated war heroes, and controls (i.e., those who functioned adequately but without special distinction). Findings show that, even though the decorated war heroes reported the highest exposure to battlefield stressors, they functioned better than the other 2 groups during the war. Moreover, some 2 decades later, they showed lower rates of posttraumatic stress disorder and better general psychological health than the CSR casualties. Findings also show that battlefield functioning made a greater contribution to postwar pathology than battle stressors

Long-Term Trajectories of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Categorical versus Continuous Assessment

Objective: Long-term trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may fluctuate over time and typically conform to four heterogeneous patterns: resilience, recovery, delayed-onset, and chronic symptomatology. However, such fluctuations are typically short ranged and have rarely been investigated over the course of decades after the trauma. Moreover, existing studies have used a variety of measurements, either employing a categorical Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-oriented approach or a continuous measure of symptom severity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the two methods of analyzing trajectories of PTSD by examining the level of concordance between them, their sensitivity, and their validity. Method: A total of 349 Israeli veterans from the 1973 Yom Kippur War were examined at four time points over more than four decades since the war. A latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was conducted to identify different PTSD trajectories, using both categorical and continuous PTSD assessments. Results: Descriptive results revealed that the four commonly observed patterns of PTSD are insufficient for capturing the range of individual PTSD trajectories. Using a categorical measure in the explorative LCGA yielded three trajectories (resilient, chronic, and delayed onset). The continuous measure yielded five trajectories (resilient, chronic, recovered, and two delayed-onset trajectories), which provided a slightly more nuanced distinction of participants' distress-induced psychosocial dysfunction as compared to the three-trajectory solution. Conclusion: These findings suggest that using a continuous PTSD trajectory measure provides a somewhat more sensitive estimation of PTSD trajectories. More specifically, taking into consideration symptom intensity and fluctuation over time may provide a more comprehensive picture of the survivors' distress

Compressible pressure-based Lattice-Boltzmann applied to humid air with phase change

International audienceA new compressible pressure-based Lattice Boltzmann Method is proposed to simulate humid air flows with phase change. The variable density and compressible effects are fully resolved, effectively lifting the Boussinesq approximation commonly used, e.g. for meteorological flows. Previous studies indicate that the Boussinesq assumption can lead to errors up to 25%, but the model remains common, for compressible models often suffer from a lack of stability. In order to overcome this issue, a new pressure-based solver is proposed, exhibiting excellent stability properties. Mass and momentum conservation equations are solved by a hybrid recursive regularized Lattice-Boltzmann approach, whereas the enthalpy and species conservation equations are solved using a finite volume method. The solver is based on a pressure-based method coupled with a predictor-corrector algorithm, and incorporates a humid equation of state, as well as a specific boundary condition treatment for phase change. In particular, boundary conditions that handle mass leakage are also proposed and validated. Three test cases are investigated in order to validate this new approach: the Rayleigh-Bénard instability applied to humid air, the atmospheric rising of a condensing moist bubble, and finally the evaporation of a thin liquid film in a vertical channel. Results indicate that the proposed pressure-based Lattice-Boltzmann model is stable and accurate on all cases