Interpersonal trauma histories and relationship functioning among LGB Veteran couples seeking PTSD treatment

ABSTRACT

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) Veterans report greater emotional distress, trauma exposure, and PTSD rates than both LGB civilians and non-LGB Veterans. Traumatic experiences impact intimate relationships, potentially placing LGB Veterans at higher risk of relationship dysfunction secondary to trauma and PTSD. However, limited research has examined links between relationship functioning and trauma histories among couples with one or more LGB-identifying partners. In this exploratory study, participants include 21 couples from a larger treatment study comprising a PTSD-diagnosed Veteran and their significant other in which at least one partner identified as LGB. Variables included trauma experiences, PTSD symptom severity, and relationship satisfaction. A descriptive analysis revealed high relationship satisfaction despite high interpersonal trauma rates among both PTSD-diagnosed Veterans and their partners. Further, we found different patterns of relationship functioning depending on whether a participant had experienced sexual assault. These initial analyses present novel data on trauma in treatment-seeking LGB veteran couples and provide an important basis for future research on couple-based mental health treatments for this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual minority
• veteran
• PTSD
• couples
• interpersonal trauma

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The datasets analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the principal investigator on reasonable request.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Award Number 1I01RX002093-01 from the Rehabilitation Research & Development Service of the VA Office of Research and Development. Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System [VA Merit Award (RRD) D2093-R].