Evans Lynette, Cowlishaw Sean, Hopwood Malcolm
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086 Victoria, Australia.
J Fam Psychol. 2009 Aug;23(4):531-9. doi: 10.1037/a0015877.
A longitudinal framework was used to examine the competing hypotheses of (a) whether family functioning predicts changes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms or (b) whether PTSD symptoms predict changes in family functioning. Veterans (N = 311) admitted to a treatment program completed a series of questionnaires at 3 time points: at intake, from intake to completion of a treatment program, and at the 6-month follow-up. Alcohol use and general mental health symptoms were also measured at intake. A cross-lagged panel model using structural equation modeling analyses indicated that family functioning was a moderate predictor of PTSD symptoms at posttreatment and at the 6-month follow-up. PTSD was not a significant predictor of family functioning across time and alcohol use, and general mental health symptoms did not affect the overall findings. Further analyses of PTSD symptom clusters indicated that the avoidance symptom cluster was most strongly related to family functioning. Targeting family relationships for treatment may be important in the future for veterans with PTSD.
(a) 家庭功能是否能预测创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状的变化；(b) PTSD症状是否能预测家庭功能的变化。进入一个治疗项目的退伍军人（N = 311）在3个时间点完成了一系列问卷调查：入院时、从入院到治疗项目结束时以及6个月随访时。入院时还测量了酒精使用情况和一般心理健康症状。使用结构方程模型分析的交叉滞后面板模型表明，家庭功能是治疗后和6个月随访时PTSD症状的中度预测指标。PTSD在不同时间对家庭功能以及酒精使用情况并非显著预测指标，并且一般心理健康症状不影响总体研究结果。对PTSD症状群的进一步分析表明，回避症状群与家庭功能的关联最为紧密。未来，针对有PTSD的退伍军人，将家庭关系作为治疗靶点可能很重要。
