Anticipatory stress of handling human remains from the persian gulf war: Predictors of intrusion and avoidance

High levels of distress were found in military mortuary workers prior to the arrival of the human remains from the Persian Gulf War of 1991. To better understand the stress of anticipating the handling of remains, we performed stepwise multiple regression analyses to identify the best predictors of intrusive thoughts and avoidant thoughts and behavior, two of the primary symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. After volunteer status and sex were controlled, fear and discomfort with mutilation and the grotesque, as measured by the Mutilation Questionnaire, and defensiveness or denial, as measured by the Marlowe-Crowne Scale, were significant predictors of intrusion and avoidance in the inexperienced group. In the experienced group, only the Mutilation Questionnaire predicted intrusion and avoidance. Results have implications for selection, training, and interventions for mortuary workers and other disaster workers whose job includes exposure to human remains.