Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Association of Dutch Burn Centres, Beverwijk, Netherlands.
Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2022 Dec;13(2):2151097. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2151097.
A burn event can elicit symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in survivors and their partners and may impact the way these couple members interact with each other. They may try to protect each other from further emotional distress by avoiding talking about the burn event, but they may also show concern towards each other. The aim of this study was to investigate bidirectional relationships between survivor's and partner's PTSD symptoms and two interpersonal processes: partner-oriented 'self-regulation', which is avoidance-oriented, and 'expressed concern', which is approach-oriented. In this longitudinal multi-centre study, 119 burn survivors and their partners participated. Measures of PTSD symptoms, self-regulation, and expressed concern were administered in the acute phase following the burns, and follow-ups took place up to 18 months postburn. Intra- and interpersonal effects were examined in a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Exploratory effects of burn severity were also investigated. Within individuals, survivor's expressed concern predicted later higher levels of survivor's PTSD symptoms. In their partners, self-regulation and PTSD symptoms reinforced each other in the early phase postburn. Between the two couple members, partner's expressed concern predicted later lower levels of survivor's PTSD symptoms. Exploratory regression analyses showed that burn severity moderated the effect of survivor's self-regulation on survivor's PTSD symptoms, indicating that self-regulation was continuously related to higher levels of PTSD symptoms over time within more severely burned survivors, but not in less severely burned survivors. PTSD symptoms and self-regulation reinforced each other in partners and possibly also in more severely burned survivors. Partner's expressed concern was related to lower levels of survivor's PTSD symptoms, whereas survivor's expressed concern was related to higher levels of survivor's PTSD symptoms. These findings emphasize the importance of screening for and monitoring PTSD symptoms in burn survivors and their partner and of encouraging couple's self-disclosure.
烧伤事件会在幸存者及其伴侣身上引发创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状，并可能影响这些伴侣成员之间的互动方式。他们可能会通过避免谈论烧伤事件来保护彼此免受更多的情绪困扰，但也可能对彼此表示关心。本研究旨在调查幸存者和伴侣的 PTSD 症状与两种人际过程之间的双向关系：以伴侣为导向的“自我调节”，即回避导向，以及“表达关心”，即趋近导向。在这项纵向多中心研究中，119 名烧伤幸存者及其伴侣参与了研究。在烧伤后急性期进行 PTSD 症状、自我调节和表达关心的测量，并在烧伤后 18 个月进行随访。在随机截距交叉滞后面板模型中检查了个体内和个体间的影响。还探索了烧伤严重程度的影响。在个体内，幸存者的表达关心预测了以后更高水平的幸存者 PTSD 症状。在他们的伴侣中，自我调节和 PTSD 症状在烧伤后早期相互加强。在这对夫妻成员之间，伴侣的表达关心预测了以后幸存者 PTSD 症状的较低水平。探索性回归分析表明，烧伤严重程度调节了幸存者自我调节对幸存者 PTSD 症状的影响，表明在烧伤更严重的幸存者中，自我调节与 PTSD 症状的更高水平随时间持续相关，但在烧伤较轻的幸存者中则不然。伴侣之间的自我调节和 PTSD 症状相互加强，在烧伤更严重的幸存者中可能也是如此。伴侣的表达关心与幸存者 PTSD 症状的较低水平有关，而幸存者的表达关心与幸存者 PTSD 症状的较高水平有关。这些发现强调了在烧伤幸存者及其伴侣中筛查和监测 PTSD 症状以及鼓励夫妻自我表露的重要性。
