Spiritual distress and dyadic adjustment in veterans and partners managing PTSD

J. Irene Harris, Laura Meis, Zhen Hadassah Cheng, Cory Voecks, Timothy Usset, Michelle Sherman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study explored the roles of spiritual distress and negative communication in relationship satisfaction among couples that include a veteran managing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fifty-eight veterans managing PTSD and 42 of their partners responded to mailed surveys assessing PTSD symptoms, relationship satisfaction, negative communication, spiritual distress, and demographics. Among veterans, spiritual distress predicted relationship satisfaction, and the effect was mediated by negative communication. Among partners, negative communication, but not spiritual distress, predicted relationship satisfaction. Clinical implications and future directions for spiritually-integrated care are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)229-237
Number of pages9
JournalSpirituality in Clinical Practice
Volume4
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank Christopher Erbes for helpful feedback on drafts of this article. This work is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System. The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government. Data collection was supported by grants from the Sidran Institute and the James B. Linsmayer Foundation.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Psychological Association.

Keywords

  • Couples
  • Posttraumatic stress disorder
  • Spirituality
  • Veterans

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