Posttraumatic stress disorder and responses to couple conflict: implications for cardiovascular risk

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and difficulties in intimate relationships. Greater frequency and severity of couple conflict and greater cardiovascular reactivity to such conflict might contribute to CHD risk in those with PTSD, but affective and physiological responses to couple conflict have not been examined previously in this population.

In a preliminary test of this hypothesis, 32 male veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars with PTSD and their female partners, and 33 control male veterans without PTSD and their female partners completed relationship quality assessments and a conflict discussion task. PTSD diagnosis was confirmed through diagnostic interviews and questionnaires. State anger, state anxiety, and cardiovascular measures (i.e., blood pressure, heart rate) were recorded during baseline and the conflict discussion.

Compared with controls, PTSD couples reported greater couple conflict and less warmth, and displayed pronounced increases in anger and greater increases in systolic blood pressure in response to the conflict task (all ps < .05; range η2: .05-.24). Partners in the PTSD group exhibited similar, if not greater, responses as veterans.

This was the first investigation to document emotional and cardiovascular responses to couple conflict in veterans with PTSD and their partners. PTSD was associated with greater frequency and severity of couple conflict, and greater anger and cardiovascular reactivity to conflict discussions. Anger and physiological responses to couple discord might contribute to CHD risk in veterans with PTSD, and perhaps their partners, as well.