Secondary traumatization in Dutch couples of World War II survivors

This study examined whether signs of secondary traumatic stress were present in a community sample of couples who experienced World War II. The authors hypothesized that symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in either spouse may be predicted not only by his or her own war experiences but also by the war experiences and posttraumatic symptoms of the partner. Approximately 50 years after the end of World War II, 444 couples from a community sample of elderly Dutch citizens answered a questionnaire. A multilevel regression analysis was performed with symptoms of PTSD as the dependent variable. The most important predictors of PTSD symptoms were the number of war events reported by the participant and the current level of PTSD symptoms of his or her spouse. The results lend empirical support to the notion that posttraumatic stress reactions of both members of a couple are not independent from each other. Several explanations of the findings are discussed.