Abstract:This study sought to examine the levels of public stigma toward veterans with combat-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CR-PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) among undergraduate college students. It was hypothesized that empathy, TBI knowledge, familiarity with TBI and veterans, and gender would be associated with less stigmatizing attitudes. Stigma-related attitudes amongst participants were measured across anger, fear, avoidance, danger, and desire to help after reading vignettes describing a veteran with CR-PTSD only and a veteran with CR-PTSD and mild TBI. Contrary to expectations, results indicated that there was no significant difference in levels of public stigma between veterans with CR-PTSD alone and those with both CR-PTSD and TBI. Greater empathy and TBI knowledge was associated with lower levels of public stigma, partially supporting the second hypothesis. However, familiarity with TBI and veterans did not reduce stigma, contrary to previous findings. Gender differences were observed, with women expressing more empathy and desire to help, while men reported higher levels of anger. These findings emphasize the need for public education on TBI and PTSD to increase empathy and reduce public stigma toward veterans. Limitations of this study include a homogenous sample, vignettes featuring only mild TBI symptoms and male characters, and the use of online self-report measures. Future research should investigate these relationships in more diverse populations and with more severe TBI descriptions.