@article{ref1,
title="Prospective study of police officer spouse/partners: a new pathway to secondary trauma and relationship violence?",
journal="PLoS one",
year="2014",
author="Meffert, Susan M. and Henn-Haase, Clare and Metzler, Thomas J. and Qian, Meng and Best, Suzanne and Hirschfeld, Ayelet and McCaslin, Shannon and Inslicht, Sabra and Neylan, Thomas C. and Marmar, Charles R.",
volume="9",
number="7",
pages="e100663-e100663",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: It has been reported that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with secondary spouse/partner (S/P) emotional distress and relationship violence. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationships between PTSD, S/P emotional distress and relationship violence among police recruits using a prospective design. <br><br>METHODS: Two hypotheses were tested in 71 S/Ps: (1) Police officer reports of greater PTSD symptoms after 12 months of police service will be associated with greater secondary trauma symptoms among S/Ps; (2) Greater secondary trauma symptoms among S/Ps at 12 months will be associated with S/P reports of greater relationship violence.71 police recruits and their S/Ps were assessed at baseline and 12 months after the start of police officer duty. Using linear and logistic regression, we analyzed explanatory variables for 12 month S/P secondary traumatic stress symptoms and couple violence, including baseline S/P variables and couple violence, as well as exposure and PTSD reports from both S/P and officer. <br><br>RESULTS: S/P perception of officer PTSD symptoms predicted S/P secondary traumatic stress. OS/P secondary trauma was significantly associated with both total couple violence (.34, p = .004) and S/P to officer violence (.35, p = .003). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Although results from this relatively small study of young police officers and their S/Ps must be confirmed by larger studies in general populations, findings suggest that S/P perception of PTSD symptoms may play a key role in the spread of traumatic stress symptoms across intimate partner relationships and intimate partner violence in the context of PTSD.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1932-6203",
doi="10.1371/journal.pone.0100663",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100663"
}