Publication year
2012
Citation Title
Distress in spouses of Vietnam veterans: Associations with communication about deployment experiences.
Journal Name
Journal of Family Psychology
Journal Volume
26
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
18-25
DOI
10.1037/a0026680
Summary
Vietnam Veterans and their partners participated in a study that investigated the relationship between partner psychological well-being and relationship functioning with Veterans’ sharing about their Vietnam experiences. Couples’ general communication factored more heavily in partner relationship satisfaction than did communication about Vietnam.
Key Findings
When level of general communication and Veterans’ PTSD symptoms were controlled, communication about Vietnam was not associated with partners’ relationship distress.
Overall, Vietnam-specific communication was associated with better general communication.
In couples where the Veteran did not have significant PTSD, Vietnam-related communication was similar to their general communication.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide classes for Service members and partners about how general communication is more important for relationship health than military or deployment specific communication
Offer workshops to build communication skills as part of reintegration events, noting that Service members may experience strong emotions when talking about deployment experiences
Provide education for family members of Service members with PTSD, providing information about PTSD and its impact on the family
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support couples programs for Service members and their families who have relationships problems
Continue to provide support for programs that work to increase family readiness
Provide professional development for family service workers on effective communication strategies for military couples
Methods
Vietnam Veterans (and their partners) who participated in the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey were invited to participate.
Veterans and spouses were interviewed separately.
Veterans completed measures of PTSD symptoms, marital problems, psychological distress, and communication patterns, while their partners completed measures of marital problems, psychological distress, and communication patterns.
Statistical analyses were used to explore relationships between Veterans and their partners' responses.
Participants
Participants included 465 Vietnam Veterans and their opposite sex partners.
There were 81% male Veteran-female partner pairs.
The average age of Veterans was 41.7 years (SD = 5.2 years), while the average age of their partners was 40 years (SD = 7.4 years).
Ninety four percent of the pairs were married and the average marriage length was 14.4 years (SD = 7.2 years).
Limitations
The data were cross-sectional and any causal conclusions are inappropriate.
Researchers did not assess the precise type, kind, or intensity of communication about Vietnam.
The data were collected at least ten years after return from combat; results may have differed if collected earlier.
Avenues for Future Research
Use a more in-depth measure of communication about deployment in order to assess more complicated relationships
Investigate a more recent cohort of Veterans
Examine couples longitudinally to assess if communication impacts long-term relationship outcomes and satisfaction
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Emerging literature shows a consistent pattern of relationship and psychological distress in spouses or partners of combat veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One possible mechanism of partners' distress posited in clinical literature is that excessive discussion of traumatic events from deployment may have negative effects on partners. At the extreme, some partners are suggested to develop PTSD-like symptoms, or secondary traumatic stress. Despite these hypotheses, there have been few empirical tests of the effects of communicating about such events. In a sample of 465 combat veterans and their spouses who participated in the Family Interview Component of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, we explored how the extent of couples' deployment-related communication was associated with partner relationships and psychological distress, and whether such associations were moderated by the severity of veterans' PTSD symptoms. Results showed that Vietnam-specific communication correlated negatively with relationship distress, but the effect was negligible after controlling for overall communication in the relationship. On the other hand, Vietnam-specific communication did not correlate with psychological distress, but the association was significantly moderated by veterans' PTSD symptom severity. Specifically, communication about Vietnam was increasingly and positively associated with partners' psychological distress as veterans' symptoms of PTSD rose into the clinical range, but non significantly and negatively associated with such distress as PTSD symptoms decreased below this level. The findings support previous clinical recommendations that couples' discussions of potentially traumatic events be approached cautiously, and they suggest a need to attend to the content of couples' communications when conducting dyadic interventions for PTSD.
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