Category: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
Steffany Fredman, Ph.D.
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
Keith Renshaw, Ph.D.
Department Chair and Professor of Psychology
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia
Kayla Knopp, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Fellow
VA San Diego Health Care System
San Diego, California
Steffany Fredman, Ph.D.
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
Sarah T. Giff, Ph.D.
Doctoral Candidate
Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, MIRECC
Charleston, South Carolina
Sarah Campbell, Ph.D.
Staff Psychologist, PTSD Outpatient Clinic
Affiliate Investigator, HSR&D
VA Puget Sound Health Care System
Seattle, Washington
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common mental health consequences of traumatic events, including emergencies and disasters. Epidemiological studies indicate that trauma exposure is widespread in the U.S. (89.7%) and that the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is high (8.3%; Kilpatrick et al., 2013). Rates are even higher in military populations (7.7% to 17.0%; Schein et al., 2021), who are exposed to myriad traumatic events during their service and frequently called upon to assist in a range of emergencies and disasters.
PTSD’s effects can ripple outward beyond the trauma survivor to disrupt romantic relationship functioning, partner well-being, and parenting (Campbell & Renshaw, 2018; Creech & Miska, 2017; Monson et al., 2009). However, little is known about how PTSD symptoms predict specific facets of couple functioning and partner well-being over time or how particular PTSD symptoms relate to how military members engage with their children during emotionally evocative situations, as rated by objective observers. Better understanding of such processes will help to provide a more holistic understanding of the broader impacts of military-related PTSD and inform the development of scalable programming to assist loved ones whose lives are also touched by the condition.
To advance cognitive and behavioral science as applied to trauma-exposed military and veteran families, this symposium focuses on the impact of PTSD symptoms on couple functioning, partner well-being, and parenting, using a variety of research designs (e.g., dyadic longitudinal data, observational coding of family interactions) and advanced statistical methods (e.g., random-intercept, cross lagged panel model; latent class analysis), as well as a novel method to alleviate the burden of PTSD on military members’ significant others. The first presenter will describe results from a study of 624 U.S. Army service members demonstrating that, over a 4-year period, the links between PTSD symptoms and relationship functioning differ as a function of which symptoms and which dimensions of relationship adjustment are being examined. The next presenter will discuss findings from a study of 272 U.S Army couples on the longitudinal associations between partners’ accommodation of service members’ PTSD symptoms and partners’ psychological and relational distress over an 18-month period and the extent to which these relations vary by partners’ conflict avoidance and helplessness motivations for accommodating. The third presenter will report findings from a study of more than 200 National Guard/Reserve families that links parents’ observed emotion socialization behaviors while interacting with their children and military members’ PTSD symptoms, particularly avoidance symptoms. The last presenter will review results from a quality improvement study (N = 181) of PTSD 101 for Family and Friends, a novel psychoeducational program for loved ones of veterans with PTSD that has high potential for scalability and impact beyond the trauma survivor. Our discussant, an expert on the interpersonal context of PTSD in military populations, will discuss the clinical and policy implications of these findings for optimizing both trauma survivor and family functioning.
Presenter: Kayla Knopp, Ph.D. – VA San Diego Health Care System
Co-author: Lauren Sippel, PhD – Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, VA Northeast Program Evaluation Center
Co-author: Chandra Khalifian, Ph.D. – VA San Diego Healthcare System/University of California, San Diego
Co-author: Jennalee Wooldridge, PhD – VA San Diego Healthcare System/ University of California San Diego
Co-author: Madison Titone, PhD – VA San Diego / UCSD Clinical Research Postdoctoral Residency Program
Co-author: Howard Markman, PhD – University of Denver
Presenter: Steffany J. Fredman, Ph.D. – The Pennsylvania State University
Co-author: Yunying Le, Ph.D. – The Pennsylvania State University
Co-author: Keith D. Renshaw, Ph.D. – George Mason University
Co-author: Elizabeth Allen, Ph.D. – University of Colorado Denver
Presenter: Sarah T. T. Giff, Ph.D. – Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, MIRECC
Co-author: Keith D. Renshaw, Ph.D. – George Mason University
Co-author: Tim Curby, PhD – Department of Psychology, George Mason University
Co-author: Susanne Denham, PhD – Department of Psychology, George Mason University
Co-author: Abigail Gewirtz, PhD – Arizona State University
Presenter: Sarah B. Campbell, Ph.D. – VA Puget Sound Health Care System
Co-author: Catherine Wallace, PhD – Lyra Health