Date of Award

5-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Goncy, Elizabeth

Second Advisor

Yaroslavsky, Ilya

Third Advisor

Allard, Eric

Abstract

Military servicepeople often find themselves facing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following their service. The symptoms of PTSD can impact the functioning of servicepeople’s intimate relationships, particularly in the aspect of conflict and aggression. The present study aimed to assess the effect of a military-involved partner’s PTSD symptoms on the association between relationship conflict and aggression from the perspectives of both partners. Data were collected from 112 military-involved individuals (active-duty or veteran) and 16 couples (one military-involved partner and one civilian partner) who participated in an online survey which collected data on their romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that the PTSD symptoms of the military partner would moderate the relationship between self-reports of interactional reactivity and aggression in both partners. The first hypothesis focused on the effects of the military partner exclusively, while the goal of the second hypothesis was to assess if there were residual affects of the military partner’s PTSD on a civilian partner. Upon analysis, it was found that although military PTSD symptoms and interactional reactivity conflict of the military partner were associated with aggression, the interaction of these two variables did not significantly affect aggression. It was also found that military PTSD did not affect interactional reactivity and aggression in the civilian partner. Although the results were not the expected outcome, important information can be gathered from the associations found within the data to further research on military-involved relationships and their ability to work through conflict.

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