The research also may cover those diseases or conditions for which risk factors or interventions are different for women. During fiscal year 1996, VA researchers conducted a total of 189 such projects funded by VA and other federal and private organizations. In January 1993, VA established a new division within the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder devoted to studying the impact of military trauma on women veterans. The Women's Health Sciences Division, based at the Boston VA Medical Center, became the first of its kind in the country. Research in this division is specifically designed to address gender issues potentially linked to post-traumatic stress and closely associated disorders such as depression and substance abuse.
Studies focus on women or male-female comparisons.
Studies at the Women's Health Sciences Division have investigated the effects of a range of stressful experiences on women who served during the Vietnam conflict and the Persian Gulf War. Preliminary results show that reported rates of sexual harassment and assault of women in the military are substantially higher than the national average. In addition, assaultive and violent noncombat traumas are reported frequently during peacetime service, highlighting the fact that women's military experiences may be more broadly stressful than men's. Investigators at the Center have developed and evaluated several assessment instruments designed to measure military stressors commonly experienced by women and their reactions to stress, both traumatic and nontraumatic. They have examined the validity and utility of a new diagnostic interview to assess the effects of trauma on women.