Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Briana S. Goff / The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the systemic effects of trauma, particularly war-related traumatic stress as a result of military deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, in a sample of recent war veterans and their spouses. With recent military deployments and redeployments of soldiers, empirical and clinical research is needed to eliminate further deterioration and retraumatization caused by personal and interpersonal traumatization that can lead to severe PTSD and other trauma-related symptoms. Much of the research on previous wars focused on the individual trauma survivor overlooking the impact on the couple and family system. This study focused on explaining the systemic effects of trauma as it specifically impacts couple relational systems. By employing qualitative analysis, six couples (12 participants) were selected from the original data set of 45 couples (90 participants). Participants completed questionnaires and separate individual standardized open-ended interviews about their traumatic experiences. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed producing four themes: positive impact of deployment on the couple’s relationship, the negative impact of deployment on the couple’s relationship, soldiers’ war-related trauma, and issues of secrecy. Two groups were identified (high trauma/high relational satisfaction group and high trauma/low relational satisfaction group), based on the quantitative measures that were completed by all participants. Participants reported both war deployment related and non-deployment related traumatic experiences. Many participants reported feeling as though they restarted their relationship upon returning home, while some described feeling closer to their spouse at redeployment. Participants reported having a common worry of if the soldiers would return home alive, soldiers’ missing many life events (i.e., child birth, etc.), and soldiers’ worry about the safety and health of their spouses. An interesting finding was that some couples with high levels of trauma can maintain high levels of relational satisfaction when they have knowledge and understanding of each other’s trauma history and have open, on-going communication, while some couples with high levels of trauma tend to have low relational satisfaction due to limited communication about their trauma history. Strengths and limitations of the study, research implications, and clinical implications were discussed.

No description available.

Relationship quality, satisfaction and stability have been topics of interest for some time, as marriage and family structure have undergone significant changes since the 1970s. Researchers have observed a continuing decline in marital quality and satisfaction among first-time married couples (Amato, Johnson, Booth, & Rogers, 2003; Schramm & Harris, 2010). This interest in dyadic couple relationship quality was likely driven by the expanding awareness that quality of marital relationships influences a broad range of positive and negative outcomes; healthy, satisfying marriages provide numerous benefits important to individuals and society, while marital dissolution has a profoundly negative effect (Amato, 2010; Cowan & Cowan, 2005; Harris, Schramm, Marshall, & Lee, 2012; Schramm & Harris, 2010). Furthermore, subjective levels of marital quality and satisfaction are predictive of both marital stability and marital dissolution (Gottman, 1994; Gottman & Notarius, 2000). Furthermore, subjective levels of marital quality and satisfaction are predictive of both marital stability and marital dissolution (Gottman, 1994; Gottman & Notarius, 2000). This study represents a continuing line of research into correlations between relationship quality and satisfaction, intimate partner consensus, and relevant contextual factors among married and unmarried cohabiting couples in a sample of residents in the Gulf States region, which encompasses the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas and included 1,360 respondents. The current study proceeds from an initial baseline study of dyadic couple trends in this region and is part of an ongoing line of research scheduled to continue over the next four years through a federal healthy marriages and relationships grant.

This thesis describes a program of research which aimed to identify the extent to which couple and stepfamily variables were associated with couple relationship adjustment and stability in stepfamily couples. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 consisted of 63 stepfamily couples who were in a committed relationship (married or cohabiting) and who had earlier taken part in an intervention program. It was hypothesised that positive couple relationship outcomes could be predicted by low couple aggression, high couple negativity, low couple withdrawal, high parenting disagreement, and high dysfunctional parenting over a 5-year period. The results did not support the hypotheses possibly due to low power in the design. In Study 2, 122 stepfamily couples who been living together (married or cohabiting) as a stepfamily were assessed on couple and stepfamily factors, and these were tested for their association with couple relationship adjustment and stability, using both self-report questionnaires and interview data. As predicted, stepfamily factors accounted for variance in couple stability above that accounted for by couple factors. Furthermore, stepfamily factors were associated with couple stability independent of couple adjustment. The influence of stepfamily couple relationship adjustment and stability seem distinctive from first-marriage couples. It was concluded that stepfamily relationship education programs for stepfamilies should address the unique needs of stepfamilies such as parenting education for inexperienced stepparents, the development of positive stepparent-stepchild relationships, and the building of stepfamily cohesion.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).

Thèse (M.Ps.) -- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, en association avec Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2003. / Bibliogr.: f. [92]-109. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Psychology, 2008. / Thesis advisor: Brent Donnelan. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 29, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-76). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.