Post-deployment violence and antisocial behavior: The influence of pre-deployment factors, warzone experience, and posttraumatic stress disorder

The United States has historically been concerned with successful reintegration of returning combat veterans into civilian society. Apprehensions are based on the recognition that traumatic warzone exposures may have negative emotional and behavioral consequences, and that violent and aggressive behavior demonstrated in the combat zone may persist upon homecoming. The majority of clinical and empirical data on post-deployment violence and antisocial behavior in US combat veterans comes from studies of returnees from the Vietnam War. These studies have demonstrated correlations between warzone exposures, posttraumatic stress disorder, and post-deployment violence in subpopulations of Vietnam veterans; however, there are methodologic limitations to the generalizability of these findings. Study results regarding post-deployment violence and antisocial behavior in Vietnam veterans can inform efforts to mitigate violence and antisocial behavior in service members returning from combat related to the global war on terrorism as well as future research.