Secondary Traumatization Among Wives of Posttraumatic Combat Veterans: A Family Typology

This study examined the relationship between family environment and the psychosocial adjustment of wives of Israeli combat stress reaction (CSR; n = 127) and non-CSR (n = 85) veterans of the 1982 Lebanon War. Wives from conflict-oriented families were found to display the highest levels of psychological and behavioral problems, followed by wives from rigid-moral and midrange families. The healthiest wives in this sample came from expressive families. Results indicate that family environment has a similar effect on all wives, irrespective of whether or not the husband had suffered a wartime stress reaction. Findings show, however, that wives of traumatized veterans have to contend far more often than other wives with conflict and rigidity in family functioning, whereas wives of nontraumatized veterans tend to benefit from an expressive family environment.