Clinical literature suggests that those close to a trauma survivor may experience intrapersonal and interpersonal distress because of indirect or secondary effects of the trauma. The focus of this study is on the association between reported childhood physical and sexual abuse and current individual stress symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and family adjustment. The participants included 96 clinic couples who reported a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse in one or both partners and 65 clinic couples in which neither partner reported such abuse. Couples in which one or both partners reported childhood abuse reported significantly lower marital satisfaction, higher individual stress symptoms, and lower family cohesion than couples with no abuse history. No significant differences were found between individuals who reported a history of abuse and their partners who reported no history of childhood abuse, suggesting support for secondary trauma theory. Clinical and future research implications are discussed.

Trauma survivors and their spouses/partners who seek therapy often present with unique dynamics owing to the ongoing effects of previous trauma. This article provides a clinical framework for understanding single-trauma (only 1 partner reports a trauma history) and dual-trauma (both partners report a trauma history) couples. The descriptions of single- and dual-trauma couples were developed through several focus group discussions. Interpersonal patterns characteristic of single- and dual-trauma couples are described. We emphasize the importance of using a "trauma lens" when working with couples and families to avoid overlooking important cues about the individual and systemic effects of traumatic stress.

One of the assumptions of intergenerational family therapy is that how a person thinks and talks about family-of-origin experiences has important implications for current family relationships. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a measure of attachment security based on how coherently the person can discuss attachment experiences in childhood. This study examined the relationship between attachment security, as measured by the AAI, and couple interaction, as measured by the Georgia Marriage Q-Sort (GMQ), in a sample of 28 couples in therapy for relationship problems. During a conflict resolution discussion, those individuals who were less coherent in discussing their family of origin expressed more negative affect, less respect, less openness, more avoidance, and less willingness to negotiate when interacting with their partner. No evidence of intra-couple effects or "buffering" was found. The findings support a key assumption of intergenerational approaches to family therapy and suggest that applying attachment theory is a promising direction for refining and developing new interventions for couples.

Studies of post‐traumatic stress disorder have focused primarily on veterans, generally ignoring their female partners (wives or girlfriends). recently, clinicians have begun to identify PTSD‐like symptoms in these female partners, but the literature describing this phenomenon has been limited. This paper addresses the fact that women in long‐term relationships with veterans suffering from PTSD commonly experience PTSD‐like psychiatric symptoms themseoves. These wonem's symptoms and issues they face in their relationships with their veteran partners are described. Conceptual explanations of and causal factors for these women's symptoms are presented, followed by discussion of treatment approaches and issues.

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