Dyadic examination of posttraumatic stress symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and potential mediators in military couples

The current study investigated the mechanisms through which posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms are associated with relationship functioning in a sample of 219 National Guard veterans and their partners. Veterans completed questionnaires regarding PTS symptoms, physical and verbal aggression, levels of communication, and relationship satisfaction. Partners reported on veterans' physical and verbal aggression and their own relationship satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a Five-factor Model of PTS had the best relative fit for PTS symptoms reported by the veterans. Dyadic analyses via path analysis found significant negative relations between veterans' numbing symptoms and both veterans' and partners' relationship satisfaction, with an additional negative effect of avoidance and positive effect of reexperiencing on partners' relationship satisfaction. All other paths were nonsignificant. A second path analysis examined communication and aggression as mediators of the associations between symptom clusters and relationship satisfaction in both partners, using bootstrapping with 5000 resamples. Again, significant negative direct effects for the numbing cluster on both veterans' and partners' relationship satisfaction were found, with an additional negative direct effect of avoidance and positive direct effect of reexperiencing symptoms on partners' relationship satisfaction. Numbing also exerted a significant indirect effect on veterans' relationship satisfaction, and a marginally significant indirect effect on partners' relationship satisfaction via communication. Finally, anxious-arousal had a significant indirect effect on partner's relationship satisfaction via partners' report of veterans' aggression. These findings add to the growing literature that suggests that symptoms of emotional numbing are particularly detrimental to relationship functioning for both veterans and partners and that this is explained in part by impaired communication. Potential implications of these findings and future research needs are discussed.