Proving cause and effect in traumatic stress: The draft lottery as a natural experiment
✍ Scribed by Norman Hearst; Thomas B. Newman
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1988
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 396 KB
- Volume
- 1
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0894-9867
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A dozen years after the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, considerable evidence suggests that some Vietnam veterans have suffered longterm mental health problems as a result of their experiences while in the military. Published reports began with the first descriptions of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is now a recognized psychiatric diagnosis. Recently, we have added to this literature by using a new technique based on the military draft lottery of 1970-1972. This article discusses the rationale behind the approach that we used, summarizes our results, which have been published in detail elsewhere, discusses how our results complement those of previous studies, and suggests ways in which similar techniques might be used to further investigate delayed effects of the Vietnam-era military draft.