Posttraumatic stress disorder and relationship functioning: Examining gender differences in treatment ‐seeking veteran couples

AbstractPosttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are robustly associated with intimate relationship dysfunction among veterans, but most existing research has focused on male veterans and their female partners. Links between PTSD and relationship functioning may differ between female-veteran couples and male-veteran couples. The current study used actor –partner interdependence models (APIMs) to test the associations between PTSD symptoms (i.e., veteran self-report or significant others’ collateral-report) and each partner's reports of six domains of relationship functioning, as well as whether these links were moderated by the gender compositi on of the couple. Data were from 197 mixed-gender couples (N = 394 individuals) who completed baseline assessments for a larger randomized controlled trial of a couple-based PTSD treatment. Significant others' collateral PTSD reports were associated with their own ratings of relationship satisfaction, negotiation, psychological aggression, sexual pleasure, and sexual desire frequency, | β|s = .19–.67, and with veterans' ratings of negotiation and sexual desire frequency, |β|s = .20–.48. In contrast, veterans' self-reported PTSD symptoms were only associated with their own ratings of psychological aggression, β = .16. Gender moderated the associations between significant othe rs’ collateral PTSD reports and five of the six outcome variables; findings from exploratory subgroup analyses suggested links between reported P...
Source: Journal of Traumatic Stress - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research