Female partners' estimations of male veterans' combat‐related PTSD severity

• Published in: Journal of traumatic stress Vol. 11; no. 2; pp. 367 - 374
• Main Authors: Gallagher, James G., Riggs, David S., Byrne, Christina A., Weathers, Frank W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germantown Periodicals Service Company 01-04-1998; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Anxiety disorders. Neuroses; Arousal; assessment; Attitude to Health; Avoidance Learning; Biological and medical sciences; Combat Disorders - classification; Combat Disorders - psychology; concordance; Couples; Estimation; Female; Females; Humans; Male; Males; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Post-traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; PTSD; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index; Sexual Partners - psychology; Spouses; Spouses - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms; Veterans; Veterans - psychology; Vietnam War; Human; Marital relation; Evaluation; Symptomatology; Posttraumatic syndrome; Attitude; Social interaction; Anxiety disorder; War; Veteran; Stress; Judgment
• ISSN: 0894-9867; 1573-6598
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1024411422586

This study investigated concordance between male Vietnam veterans' and their female partners' reports of veterans' posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Fifty male Vietnam combat veterans and their partners rated the severity of their own PTSD symptoms. Also, partners rated the severity of veterans' symptoms. Results indicated modest levels of agreement in reports of symptom presence/absence. Partner ratings of veterans' PTSD severity were positively correlated with veteran reports and partners' own self‐reported PTSD symptoms. After controlling for veterans' self‐reported symptoms, partners' symptoms significantly predicted their estimates of veterans' avoidance symptoms, but not veterans' reexperiencing or hyperarousal symptoms. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.