Predisposed Vulnerabilities and Survival Among the Finnish Soldiers of World War II: Historical Life Course Approach

Overview

Journal Front Sociol

Date 2025 Jan 20

PMID 39830692

Authors

Ville Kivimaki

Virva Liski

Ilari Taskinen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

In this methodological paper we propose a historical life course approach to analyze soldiers' predispositions to experience war-related violence and stress and to respond to it. We argue that a closer quantitative inspection of pre-war and wartime factors will help to understand the various causes leading to different exposures to stress and violence during the war, which have consequently had different outcomes for the war survivors' later lives. Our methodology is designed for a rich data source, the Finnish Army in World War II Database (FA2W,  = 4,253), but is generally also applicable to other case studies. We will demonstrate in practice how we apply the historical life course approach to the study of soldiers' pre-war background variables, wartime service paths, and measurable war stress exposures. In the final discussion, as one potential follow-up to our proposal, we will point to an advanced historical analysis of community-building and meaning-making linked to different war experience profiles combining the quantitative social historical methodology with a qualitative cultural history approach.

References

Ehlers A, Maercker A, Boos A . Posttraumatic stress disorder following political imprisonment: the role of mental defeat, alienation, and perceived permanent change. J Abnorm Psychol. 2000; 109(1):45-55. View

Tedeschi R, Calhoun L . The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory: measuring the positive legacy of trauma. J Trauma Stress. 1996; 9(3):455-71. DOI: 10.1007/BF02103658. View

Kunnas T, Solakivi T, Renko J, Kalela A, Nikkari S . Late-life coronary heart disease mortality of Finnish war veterans in the TAMRISK study, a 28-year follow-up. BMC Public Health. 2011; 11(1):71. PMC: 3038159. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-71. View

Schnurr P, Spiro 3rd A . Combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and health behaviors as predictors of self-reported physical health in older veterans. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1999; 187(6):353-9. DOI: 10.1097/00005053-199906000-00004. View

Al-Makhamreh H, Alkhulaifat D, Al-Ani A, Mafrachi B, Saadeh A, Al-Ani H . The Impact of War-Related Stress on Coronary Artery Disease Severity in War Survivors: A SYNTAX Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(6). PMC: 8004035. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18063233. View

Bedard K, Deschenes O . The Long-Term Impact of Military Service on Health: Evidence from World War II and Korean War Veterans. Am Econ Rev. 2017; 96(1):176-94. DOI: 10.1257/000282806776157731. View

Op Den Velde W, Deeg D, Hovens J, van Duijn M, Aarts P . War stress and late-life mortality in World War II male civilian resistance veterans. Psychol Rep. 2011; 108(2):437-48. DOI: 10.2466/02.10.16.PR0.108.2.437-448. View

Sagi-Schwartz A, Bakermans-Kranenburg M, Linn S, van IJzendoorn M . Against all odds: genocidal trauma is associated with longer life-expectancy of the survivors. PLoS One. 2013; 8(7):e69179. PMC: 3722177. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069179. View

MacLean A . The stratification of military service and combat exposure, 1934-1994. Soc Sci Res. 2010; 40(1):336-348. PMC: 2990971. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.04.006. View

10.

Lund M, Foy D, SIPPRELLE C, Strachan A . The Combat Exposure Scale: a systematic assessment of trauma in the Vietnam War. J Clin Psychol. 1984; 40(6):1323-8. DOI: 10.1002/1097-4679(198411)40:6<1323::aid-jclp2270400607>3.0.co;2-i. View

11.

Elder G, Clipp E, Brown J, Martin L, Friedman H . The Life-Long Mortality Risks Of World War II Experiences. Res Aging. 2010; 31(4):391-412. PMC: 2743276. DOI: 10.1177/0164027509333447. View

12.

Bosscher I, de la Rie S, VAN DER Aa N, Boelen P . Profiles of posttraumatic stress disorder and negative world assumptions in treatment-seeking refugees. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2024; 15(1):2314915. PMC: 10868437. DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2024.2314915. View

13.

Bramsen I, Deeg D, van der Ploeg E, Fransman S . Wartime stressors and mental health symptoms as predictors of late-life mortality in World War II survivors. J Affect Disord. 2007; 103(1-3):121-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.014. View

14.

Hautamaki A, Coleman P . Explanation for low prevalence of PTSD among older Finnish war veterans: social solidarity and continued significance given to wartime sufferings. Aging Ment Health. 2001; 5(2):165-74. DOI: 10.1080/13607860120038348. View

15.

Roelfs D, Shor E, Davidson K, Schwartz J . War-related stress exposure and mortality: a meta-analysis. Int J Epidemiol. 2010; 39(6):1499-509. PMC: 2992629. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyq132. View

16.

Harris P, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde J . Research electronic data capture (REDCap)--a metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. J Biomed Inform. 2008; 42(2):377-81. PMC: 2700030. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010. View

16.

Arakcheeva A, Chapuis G, Petricek V, Morozov V . The role of second coordination-sphere interactions in incommensurately modulated structures, using beta-K5Yb(MoO4)4 as an example. Acta Crystallogr B. 2005; 61(Pt 4):400-6. DOI: 10.1107/S010876810501726X. View

17.

Costa D, Kahn M . Health, wartime stress, and unit cohesion: evidence from Union Army veterans. Demography. 2010; 47(1):45-66. PMC: 3000013. DOI: 10.1353/dem.0.0095. View

18.

Horiuchi S . The long-term impact of war on mortality: old-age mortality of the First World War survivors in the Federal Republic of Germany. Popul Bull UN. 1983; (15):80-92. View

19.

Akosile W, Colquhoun D, Young R, Lawford B, Voisey J . The association between post-traumatic stress disorder and coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis. Australas Psychiatry. 2018; 26(5):524-530. DOI: 10.1177/1039856218789779. View