TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations among PTSD symptoms, fear of emotion, and couple communication difficulties
T2 - A between-person dyadic analysis
AU - Fredman, Steffany J.
AU - Lee, Jeesun
AU - Le, Yunying
AU - Taverna, Emily
AU - Marshall, Amy D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2025/1
Y1 - 2025/1
N2 - This study investigated between-person associations among PTSD symptoms, fear of emotion, and perceived couple communication difficulties in a dyadic context among 64 trauma-exposed, mixed gender community couples (N = 128 individuals) using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model. Individuals with higher PTSD symptoms endorsed greater fear of their emotions (βMen = .72; βWomen = .49), and those with greater fear of their emotions reported lower levels of constructive couple communication (βMen = −.19; βWomen = −.21) and higher levels of self-demand/partner-withdraw communication (βMen = .20; βWomen = .25) and partner-demand/self-withdraw communication (βMen = .26; βWomen = .33) with their partners. Additionally, women whose partners had higher PTSD symptoms endorsed greater fear of their emotions (β = .30). The most robust indirect PTSD-communication links were between (a) individuals' PTSD symptoms and their perceptions of partner-demand/self-withdraw communication when accounting for associations with fear of their emotions and (b) men's PTSD symptoms and women's perceived partner-demand/self-withdraw communication accounting for associations with women's fear of their emotions. Men with higher PTSD symptoms also reported greater self-demand/partner-withdraw communication (β = .28), independent of their fear of emotion. Couple-based treatments for PTSD that promote emotional tolerance and are sensitive to gender differences in how PTSD symptoms relate to each partner's perception of the man-demand/woman-withdraw communication pattern may improve trauma survivors' relationship functioning and increase the potential for relationships to serve as a conduit for recovery from PTSD.
AB - This study investigated between-person associations among PTSD symptoms, fear of emotion, and perceived couple communication difficulties in a dyadic context among 64 trauma-exposed, mixed gender community couples (N = 128 individuals) using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model. Individuals with higher PTSD symptoms endorsed greater fear of their emotions (βMen = .72; βWomen = .49), and those with greater fear of their emotions reported lower levels of constructive couple communication (βMen = −.19; βWomen = −.21) and higher levels of self-demand/partner-withdraw communication (βMen = .20; βWomen = .25) and partner-demand/self-withdraw communication (βMen = .26; βWomen = .33) with their partners. Additionally, women whose partners had higher PTSD symptoms endorsed greater fear of their emotions (β = .30). The most robust indirect PTSD-communication links were between (a) individuals' PTSD symptoms and their perceptions of partner-demand/self-withdraw communication when accounting for associations with fear of their emotions and (b) men's PTSD symptoms and women's perceived partner-demand/self-withdraw communication accounting for associations with women's fear of their emotions. Men with higher PTSD symptoms also reported greater self-demand/partner-withdraw communication (β = .28), independent of their fear of emotion. Couple-based treatments for PTSD that promote emotional tolerance and are sensitive to gender differences in how PTSD symptoms relate to each partner's perception of the man-demand/woman-withdraw communication pattern may improve trauma survivors' relationship functioning and increase the potential for relationships to serve as a conduit for recovery from PTSD.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104666
DO - 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104666
M3 - Article
C2 - 39673913
AN - SCOPUS:85211439981
SN - 0005-7967
VL - 184
JO - Behaviour Research and Therapy
JF - Behaviour Research and Therapy
M1 - 104666
ER -