Trauma Symptoms, Communication, and Relationship Satisfaction in Military Couples

Trauma symptoms are negatively correlated with couple relationship satisfaction, which is of particular importance in the relationships of military personnel who are often exposed to trauma whilst on overseas deployment. This study tested a model in which communication mediated an association between trauma symptoms and low relationship satisfaction. Thirty-one Australian military couples were observationally assessed during a communication task, and assessed on their relationship satisfaction and individual functioning. As expected, trauma symptoms in the male military spouse were associated with low satisfaction in both spouses. Females' low positive communication fully mediated the relationship between males' trauma symptoms and low female satisfaction, but not male relationship satisfaction. Unexpectedly, males' negative communication behaviors were associated with high male relationship satisfaction, and partially mediated the association between trauma symptoms and male satisfaction. Discussion focused on how some communication usually thought of as negative might be associated with relationship satisfaction in military couples.