A study analyzing how returning veterans deal with post-war trauma is being led by Syracuse University faculty. The study is a part of a national training program called Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

The study will be conducted by a large and diverse team of veterans and non-veterans — all undergraduates who a part of REU, said Karen Wolford, a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Oswego and a co-principle investigator of the study, in an email. Faculty from SU, SUNY Oswego and SUNY Upstate Medical University will mentor the undergraduate students conducting the study.

REU and the NSF have partnered to conduct other studies related to veterans in the past, said Dessa Bergen-Cico, a professor of public health in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University, in an email.

“Recognizing the fact that there are many barriers to engaging veterans in traditional clinical treatment for PTSD, we have been conducting research on complementary approaches to reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms and improving the quality of life for veterans,” Bergen-Cico said.

Wolford said the study will be done through an online survey that will begin in June 2016.

The online survey will measure PTSD symptoms, self-regulation, coping practices, childhood trauma and quality of interpersonal relationships, said Ivan Castro, a project manager on the study.

The study also takes advantage of user-friendly kits, which will be mailed to the user’s home, to collect saliva and hair samples from participants. Saliva is used to test genetic material, while hair samples are used to measure cortisol levels, Castro said.

Low cortisol levels are associated with anxiety and high cortisol levels are linked to depression, according to the Rocky Medical Analytical Laboratory website.

The purpose of the study is to investigate potential genetic markers that produce trauma outcomes, said Brooks Gump, a public health professor in the Falk College, in an email. The study is used to look for relationships between genetics and PTSD as well as chronic stress levels among veterans, he added.

If specific genetic markers seem to have a relationship with the development of PTSD, then better treatment and preventative options can be developed, he said.

Another purpose of the study, Gump said, is to develop the research skills of the undergraduates conducting it.

Gump said he believes this study is important because research into veterans’ PTSD is pertinent given the numerous military operations over the past 14 years.

More than 1 million servicemen and servicewomen have served since the onset of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, Gump said, and increased rates of trauma for these soldiers compel research programs to understand and make treatments for them.

“Studies like this help develop better treatments and maybe even produce effective preventative care for service-members,” Castro said.

Published on November 11, 2015 at 9:41 pm

Contact Genna: grschind@syr.edu