This study examined the relationships of prisoner of war captivity trauma variables and individual protective variables to current depressive symptoms as indexed by the CES-D and its components. The sample consisted of 989 U.S. former POWs of World War II and the Korean War, who have been followed since the mid 1950s. Depressive symptoms persisted over 40 years later. Age, education, medical symptoms during captivity, and level of social support were related to later levels of adjustment. Theoretical and methodological implications of the findings were discussed.
This work was funded in part by the Medical Follow-up Agency of Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences under contract to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. We wish to express our appreciation for the participation of the former POWs themselves, who made this research possible.