Secondary traumatization of partners of war veterans: The role of boundary ambiguity.

Abstract

The existing literature has shown that war veterans' posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are associated with a higher level of distress in their female partners. However, less agreement exists regarding the sources of this distress and the mechanism by which this process occurs. The current study examined the consequences of Israeli war veterans' PTSD on their female partners, as manifested by the females' PTSD symptoms, mental health status, and functioning, while taking into account females' earlier traumatic events. Using the theory of ambiguous loss, it also suggested boundary ambiguity as a mediating variable by which the PTSD of the male veteran is transmitted to his female partner. Participants were 300 men who had served in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War and their female partners. Results revealed direct associations between males' PTSD and their female partners' PTSD, functioning, and mental health. In addition, boundary ambiguity mediated the association between males' PTSD and females' adjustment. Finally, females' own earlier traumatic events were directly associated with their own PTSD symptoms. Implications of this model for intervention and research are further discussed.

Veterans are not the only ones suffering from posttraumatic stress symptoms: what do we know about dependents’ secondary traumatic stress?

“…Correlations between partners’ PTSD and veterans’ PTSD were reported in eight of the 27 studies. These varied between 0.13 [12] and 0.49 [13]. …”

Moral injury process and its psychological consequences among Israeli combat veterans

“…At the same time, PTSD rates vary greatly among veterans, with a recent estimation of between 6% in population samples and 13% in combat‐exposed infantry units (Marmar et al., ; Yehuda et al., ). Specifically, among Israeli veterans of the 2006 Israel–Lebanon war, about 27% of the participants were classified as suffering from self‐reported probable PTSD (Dekel, Levinstein, Siegel, Fridkin, & Svetlitzky, ). Over the years, clinical impressions (e.g., Haley, ) and empirical research (e.g., Jordan, Eisen, Bolton, Nash, & Litz, ) suggested that PTSD may not stem only from exposure to life‐threatening events.…”

Shared PTSD and Paradox Insomnia Among Wives of Veterans with Chronic War Induced PTSD: A Preliminary Study

“…According to PCL, wives reported considerable symptoms of PTSD like their husbands. Our investigation of PTSD revealed that the ma- (4,6,21,22). Induced PTSD is characterized by transfer of trauma from one person who has had direct exposure to traumatic experiences to a closely related one who did not have direct exposure.…”