Skip to main content
Log in

Current psychiatric complaints of Dutch Resistance veterans from World War II: A feasibility study

  • Published:
Journal of Traumatic Stress

Abstract

As a first step in a nation-wide study about psychiatric complaints in Dutch Resistance veterans, a feasibility study was conducted to test the instruments. The complaints of eight war victims, aged 61 to 73, were analyzed by means of questionnaires, a psychiatric survey, and a life history interview. All subjects met the DSM-III-R criteria for PTSD, with symptoms ranging from mild to very severe. The occurrence of manifest PTSD differed considerably over the years. Highly prevalent complaints included sleep disturbances, anxiety, and vital exhaustion. An increase in psychiatric complaints was often positively associated with the occurrence of stressful life events.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (1987).Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third edition revised), Washington, D.C.

  • Appels, A., and Mulder, P. (1988). Excess fatigue as a precursor of myocardial infarction.Eur. Heart J. 9: 758–764.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Diana, I. F. P. (1976). To stochastic sleep quality scales for self-rating of subjects' sleep.Sleep Res. 5: 101.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Graaff, W. (1984).Huisarts en slaapgedrag. Waarnemingen omtrent slaapgedrag van patienten in een huisartsenpraktijk (The general practitioner and sleep behavior: Observations about sleep behavior in a general practice). PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dijkstra, P. (1974).De zelfbeoordelingsschaal van depressie van Zung (The Zung depression self assessment scale). In Van Praag, H. M. and Rooymans, H. G. M. (eds.),Stemming en ontstemming Erven Bohn, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falger, P. (1989).Life-span development and myocardial infarction: An epidemiological study. PhD Thesis, University of Limburg School of Medicine, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falger, P., Schouten, E., Appels, A., and De Vos, Y. (1988). Sleep complaints, behavioral characteristics and vital exhaustion in myocardial infarction cases.Psychol. Health 2: 231–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koster van Groos, G. A. S. (1986). Dutch translation of the SCID-R. Unpublished manuscript.

  • Op den Velde, W. (1988). Specific psychiatric disorders. In Hers, J. F. Ph., and Terpstra, J. L. (eds.),Stress, Medical and Legal Analysis of Late Effects of World War II Suffering in the Netherlands Samson Sijthoff, Alphen a/d Rijn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, J., and Fields, R. (1988). The long-term effects of extra-ordinary trauma: a look beyond PTSD.J. Anxiety Dis. 2: 179–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., and Gibbon, M. (1985).Instruction manual for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. Nonpatient Version (SCID-NP-V) Biometrics Research Department, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Ploeg, H. M. (1979).Handleiding bij de zelf-beoordelings vragenlijst [Manual for the self-rating scale (stai-dy)], Zwets en Zeitlinger, Lisse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warmbrunn, W. (1963).The Dutch Under German Occupation, 1940–1945 Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

About this article

Cite this article

den Velde, W.O., Falger, P.R.J., de Groen, J.H.M. et al. Current psychiatric complaints of Dutch Resistance veterans from World War II: A feasibility study. J Trauma Stress 3, 351–358 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974775

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00974775

Key words

Navigation