Attention to Threats and Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms: Prospective Associations and Moderation by the Serotonin Transporter Gene

Importance: Combat places soldiers at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The excessive rates of PTSD and other adjustment disorders in soldiers returning home make it imperative to identify risk and resilience factors that could be targeted by novel therapeutic treatments. Objective: To investigate the interplay among attention to threat, combat exposure, and other risk factors for PTSD symptoms in soldiers deployed to combat. Design and Setting: Longitudinal prospective study of Israeli Defense Force infantry soldiers carried out in 2008 through 2010. Repeated measurements during a 1-year period included baseline and predeployment data collected in training camps and deployment data collected in the combat theater.