Emotion Regulation Difficulties, Aggression, and PTSD Symptoms in Danish Treatment-Seeking Veterans

PARTICIPANT CHARACTERISTICS	n/MEAN	PERCENT/SD	RANGE
Demographic
Age	42.7	8.49	22–58
Male	139	97.9%
Female	3	2.1%
Cohabiting/married	85	59.8%
Single/not married	36	25.4%
Divorced/widower	21	14.8%
Childless	36	25.4%
Parent	103	74.1%
Number of children	1.6	1.40	1–8
Military
Number of missions	2.5	2.16	1–15
Balkan	65	45.8%
Afghanistan	50	35.2%
Middle East and other	26	18.4%
Experience of mortal danger	23	16.2%
Injury	45	31.7%
Experience of helplessness or intense fear	49	34.5%
Debriefing	78	54.9%
Clinical
Recent major life events	2.2	2.07	1–10
Psychoactive drugs	77	54.2%
Alcohol intake:
0–14 units pr. week	116	82.3%
15–30 units pr. week	17	12.1%
>31 units pr. week	8	5.7%
no PTSD*	20	14.2%
PTSD*	42	29.8%
CPTSD*	79	56.0%

[i] Note. valid (n = 139–142).

*PTSD symptoms were assessed with the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ).

Table 2

Descriptive statistics for study variables.

SCALES AND SUBSCALES	MEAN	SD	RANGE
ITQ
Re-experiencing	6.39	3.22	0–12
Avoidance	5.51	2.08	0–8
Hyperarousal/vigilance	6.08	1.84	0–8
PTSD-symptoms (sum)	17.96	5.97	2–28
Extrinsic emotion regulation	13.13	3.78	2–20
Intrinsic emotion regulation	12.55	4.53	1–20
Negative self-concept	10.09	4.63	0–16
Disturbance in relations	7.62	3.02	1–12
DSO-symptoms (sum)	43.27	13.10	12–68
DERS
Non-acceptance	19.24	6.85	6–38
Goals	17.86	4.56	5–25
Impulse	17.34	6.05	6–30
Awareness	19.74	4.59	7–30
Strategies	24.32	7.53	8–40
Clarity	14.90	4.59	5–25
DERS Total	104.89	21.49	0–148
TSC-26
Negative affectivity	26.64	6.22	12–40
Somatization	29.57	5.60	15–44
Dissociation	10.58	3.44	5–20
Social Support (CSS)
Total	28.50	7.02	0–46
Aggressive Behavior
Total	10.64/4.00*	15.88	0–102

[i] Note. DSO = disturbances in self organization, valid (n = 114–141).

* = Median.

Table 3

Bivariate associations (Pearson correlations) between study variables.

VARIABLE	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.	12.	13.	14.	15.	16.	17.	18.	19.
1. PTSD-symptoms^a	(.80)
2. Re-experiencing	.86**	—
3. Avoidance	.79**	.52**	—
4. Hypervigilance	.74**	.49**	.36**	—
5. DSO-symptoms^a	.46**	.37**	.30**	.45**	(.81)
6. Affective dysreg.	.37**	.30**	25**	.36**	.73**	—
7. Neg. self-concept	.34**	.27**	.18*	.37**	.84**	.38**	—
8. Dist. In relationships	.41**	.33**	.31**	.35**	.82*	.50**	.51**	—
9. Non-accept	.41**	.36**	.31**	.31**	.50**	.32**	.48**	.40**	(.75)
10. Goals	.34**	.23**	.31**	.30**	.44**	.28**	.43**	.32**	.61**	(.81)
11. Impulse	.48**	.43**	.35**	.35**	.49**	.38**	.43**	.37**	.47**	.64**	(.86)
12. Awareness	.07	.02	.02	.15	.21*	.15	.16	.19*	.25**	.17**	.14	(.70)
13. Strategies	.26*	.19*	.20*	.23**	.61**	.40**	.56**	.46**	.57**	.72**	.60**	.13	(.88)
14. Clarity	.27**	.28**	.10	.25**	.44**	.30**	.37**	.39**	.43**	.40**	.37**	.47**	.34**	(.79)
15. Neg. affectivity	.44**	.37**	.25**	.43**	.73**	.51**	.64**	.59**	.42**	.39**	.50**	.17	.56**	.38**	(.84)
16. Somatization	.55**	.49**	.27**	.57**	.49**	.34**	.39**	.45**	.25**	25**	.34**	.11	.29**	.33**	.64**	(.77)
17. Dissociation	.59**	.63**	.36**	.40**	.49**	.38**	.37**	.44**	.39**	.27**	.46**	.23**	.30**	.46**	.53**	.59**	(.78)
18. Aggressive behavior	.23**	.23**	.13	.18*	.29**	.30**	.14	.30**	.09	.13	.39**	.06	.14	.04	.43**	.37**	.41**	(.65)
19. Social support	–.11	–.08	–.11	–.08	–.31	–.20*	–.19*	–.38**	–.16	–.13	–.14	–.18*	–.20*	–.20*	–.25**	–.16	–.16	–.09	(.67)
Mean	15.48	3.90	5.51	6.08	16.02	5.64	4.82	5.56	19.24	17.86	17.34	19.74	24.32	14.90	26.64	29.57	10.58	4.36	28.50
SD	5.08	2.39	2.08	1.84	5.10	1.76	2.63	1.95	6.85	4.56	6.05	4.59	7.53	4.59	6.33	5.60	3.44	4.82	7.02

[i] **. – correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (Pearson, 2-tailed) *. = correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (Pearson, 2-tailed). Coefficient alphas appear in parentheses. ^aSum of ICD-11 PTSD and DSO symptoms respectively, measured with ITQ-scale.

Table 4

Model I · Hierarchical regression analyses for variables predicting ITQ-PTSD symptoms.

STEPS	VARIABLE	B	STD. E	ß	SIG.	F	DF	SIG.	R²	ADJ. R²
1.						3.41	3,131	.02	.07	.05
	Age	–.01	.06	–.01	.92
	Attended debriefing	–1.50	1.07	–.13	.16
	Use of psychotropics	2.93	1.03	–.24	.005
2.						7.89	8,107	<.001	.37	.32
	Age	.04	.04	.07	.35
	Attended debriefing	–.75	.72	–.07	.30
	Use of psychotropics	1.21	.71	.12	.09
	DERS non-accept	.22	.09	.25	.02
	DERS goals	.00	.17	.00	.98
	DERS impulse	.43	.10	.44	<.001
	DERS strategies	–.13	.10	–.16	.19
	DERS clarity	.16	.12	.12	.19
3.						6.90	10,97	<.001	.42	.36
	Age	.04	.06	.06	.51
	Attended debriefing	.54	1.01	.05	.59
	Use of psychotropics	1.22	.98	.10	.22
	DERS non-accept	.28	.09	.32	.00
	DERS goals	.01	.17	.01	.96
	DERS impulse	.42	.12	.42	<.001
	DERS strategies	–.18	.10	–.23	.07
	DERS clarity	.15	.13	.12	.21
	Aggressive behavior	.13	.11	.11	.22
	CSS social support	.00	.07	.01	.98
4.						9.58	13,92	<.001	.58	.52
	Age	–.03	.06	–.05	.56
	Attended debriefing	.86	.92	–07	.35
	Use of psychotropics	1.20	.87	.10	.17
	DERS non-accept	.17	.09	.20	.05
	DERS goals	.17	.15	.13	.27
	DERS impulse	.32	.11	.32	.005
	DERS strategies	–.23	.09	–.29	.02
	DERS clarity	–.09	.12	–.07	.47
	Aggressive behavior	–.17	.11	–.15	.12
	CSS social support	.02	.06	.02	.76
	TSC somatization	.18	.07	.20	.02
	TSC dissociation	.08	.14	.06	.56
	TSC negative affectivity	.06	.11	.06	.61

Table 5

Model II · Hierarchical regression analyses for variables predicting ITQ-DSO symptoms.

STEPS	VARIABLE	B	STD. E	ß	SIG.	F	DF	SIG.	R²	ADJ. R²
1.						1.42	3,102	.21	.04	.01
	Age	–.06	.06	–.09	.37
	Attended debriefing	–1.87	1.07	–.18	.08
	Use of psychotropics	1.25	1.07	.12	.23
2.						10.93	8,97	<.001	.47	.43
	Age	–.00	.05	–.00	.99
	Attended debriefing	–.40	.83	–.04	.63
	Use of psychotropics	.52	.81	.05	.52
	DERS non-accept	.16	.08	.22	.04
	DERS strategies	.33	.08	.48	<.001
	DERS Impulse	.18	.09	.20	.05
	DERS Clarity	.17	.10	.14	.11
	DERS Goals	–.28	.14	–.26	.04
3.						10.61	10,95	<.001	.53	.48
	Age	.04	.05	.06	.43
	Attended debriefing	–.13	.81	–.01	.87
	Use of psychotropics	.79	.78	–.08	.31
	DERS non-accept	.16	.08	.21	.04
	DERS strategies	.33	.08	.49	<.001
	DERS Impulse	.07	.10	.08	.48
	DERS Clarity	.15	.10	.13	.14
	DERS Goals	–.24	.13	–.22	.08
	Aggressive behavior	.23	.09	.22	.01
	CSS social support	–.10	.05	–.14	.08
4.	Age	–.02	.04	–.03	.66	14.03	10,116	<.001	.67	.62
	Attended debriefing	–.92	.72	–.09	.20
	Use of psychotropics	1.09	.68	.10	.11
	DERS non-accept	.07	.07	.09	.34
	DERS strategies	.20	.07	.28	.01
	DERS Impulse	–.02	.08	–.02	.81
	DERS Clarity	.06	.09	.05	.50
	DERS Goals	–.10	.12	–.09	.38
	Aggressive behavior	.01	.09	.01	.92
	CSS social support	–.05	.05	–.06	.34
	TSC somatization	–.05	.08	–.05	.61
	TSC dissociation	.17	.14	.12	.22
	TSC negative affectivity	.4	.09	.53	<001

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.31374/sjms.264 | Journal eISSN: 2596-3856

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Language: English

Page range: 308 - 326

Submitted on: Jan 11, 2024

Accepted on: Jul 4, 2025

Published on: Jul 16, 2025

Published by: Scandinavian Military Studies

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

Keywords:

PTSD and complex PTSD,

veterans in treatment,

emotion regulation difficulties,

aggression,

somatization,

dissociation

© 2025 Ask Elklit, Natasha Hedegaard Dahl, published by Scandinavian Military Studies
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 8 (2025): Issue 1