OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the quality of life and the sense of coherence in a sample of former German child soldiers of World War II. METHODS: 103 participants were recruited by the press, then administered a Short-Form-Health-Survey (SF-12), a sense-of-coherence scale (SOC) and 2 qualitative questions on possible resources in the combat situation. RESULTS: The quality of life was not lowered compared to a comparison group of the same age. The sense of coherence was significantly higher than that of the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: The participants belonged to a comparably unobtrusive group of veterans. A possible protective variable might be the high sense of coherence.
