Sensation seeking, wartime performance, and long-term adjustment among Israeli war veterans

The current study explored the implications of sensation seeking in immediate and long term adjustment to war-related traumatic events. More specifically, the associations between sensation seeking, performance under war stress and long term emotional adjustment were examined. Three groups of Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur war were studied: 112 combat stress reaction (CSR) casualties, 98 veterans who received medals for bravery and 189 controls. Eighteen years after the war subjects filled out a battery of questionnaires. Findings indicated that sensation seeking plays a significant role in both performance during the war and subsequent long-term adjustment. Decorated war veterans were found to be higher-sensation seekers than CSR casualties and controls. In addition, high-sensation seekers suffered from lower levels of war-related intrusion and avoidance tendencies and PTSD symptoms than low-sensation seekers. The implications of these findings are discussed.