Creech Suzannah K, Swift Robert, Zlotnick Caron, Taft Casey, Street Amy E
Providence VA Medical Center.
Department of Psychiatry, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
J Fam Psychol. 2016 Feb;30(1):43-51. doi: 10.1037/fam0000145. Epub 2015 Sep 7.
This study examined associations between warzone exposures to combat with postdeployment relationship and family functioning in 134 women who deployed to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Survey invitations were sent by mail to 600 randomly selected women who experienced recent military deployments and were residing in New England. The web-based survey included measures of combat exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, alcohol misuse, postdeployment stress exposure, family functioning, intimate relationship satisfaction, and parenting. Multivariate linear regression with bootstrapping estimates of indirect effects was used to examine whether PTSD symptoms and alcohol misuse accounted for associations between women's combat exposure and their postdeployment relationship and family functioning. Results indicated that women's PTSD symptoms had a direct and negative effect on postdeployment family functioning and on intimate relationship satisfaction. There was no direct association between combat exposure or alcohol misuse with any of the family or relationship functioning variables, however, the indirect association from combat to postdeployment family functioning (b = -.13, SE = 0.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -33, -.03) and intimate relationship satisfaction (b = -.25, SE = 0.18, 95% CI: -.79, -.001) was significant and negative through its association with PTSD symptoms. Parenting satisfaction was significantly and negatively associated with postdeployment stress only. This study is among the first to characterize the impact of deployment experiences on women veterans' relationship and family functioning. Findings suggest that women veterans who have been exposed to combat and who have higher levels of PTSD symptoms may benefit from relationship and family focused services after deployment.
本研究调查了134名曾被部署到阿富汗和伊拉克冲突地区的女性，战区战斗经历与部署后人际关系及家庭功能之间的关联。研究通过邮件向600名随机抽取的、近期有军事部署经历且居住在新英格兰地区的女性发出了调查邀请。基于网络的调查问卷包括了战斗经历、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状、酒精滥用、部署后压力暴露、家庭功能、亲密关系满意度以及育儿等方面的测量指标。采用带有间接效应自抽样估计的多元线性回归，来检验PTSD症状和酒精滥用是否能够解释女性的战斗经历与其部署后人际关系及家庭功能之间的关联。结果表明，女性的PTSD症状对部署后的家庭功能以及亲密关系满意度有直接的负面影响。战斗经历或酒精滥用与任何家庭或关系功能变量之间均无直接关联，然而，战斗经历通过与PTSD症状的关联，对部署后家庭功能（b = -0.13，标准误 = 0.07，95%置信区间[CI]：-0.33，-0.03）和亲密关系满意度（b = -0.25，标准误 = 0.18，95%CI：-0.79，-0.001）的间接关联是显著且负面的。育儿满意度仅与部署后的压力存在显著的负相关。本研究是首批描述部署经历对女性退伍军人关系及家庭功能影响的研究之一。研究结果表明，经历过战斗且PTSD症状水平较高的女性退伍军人，在部署后可能会从聚焦于关系和家庭的服务中受益。
