Surviving Sexual Assault Together: Partners’ Perceptions of Posttraumatic Stress and Relationship Distress
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Author
Swearingen, Holly B.
Publisher
Washburn University
Sponsor
Psychology Department
Issue Date
Rights
Alternative Title
Abstract
Sexual assault (SA) survivors at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder can experience relationship
distress that impacts their partner (Burden et al., 2020; Renshaw et al., 2012; 2018). While no
research exists on SA partners’ perceptions of relationship distress, parallel studies of military
veterans and their spouses show veterans’ PTSD symptoms may be misinterpreted by spouses as
relationship distress (Ahrens & Campbell, 2000; Fredman et al., 2014; Renshaw et al., 2011;
Renshaw & Caska, 2012). This study explored the relationships among partners’ perceptions of
sexual assault survivors’ PTSD symptoms, partners’ relationship distress, and partners’
interpretation of the source of the relationship distress. Nonsignificant, small correlations
indicated no relationship between PTSD perceptions and relationship distress, contrary to the
hypothesis. Significant moderate to large correlations indicated that as partners’ accommodating
behaviors toward their sexual assault survivors increased, their relationship satisfaction and
communication decreased. The hypothesis that an increase in partners perceptions of their sexual
assault survivors’ PTSD symptoms would be associated with an increase in relationship distress
was not supported; however, the lack of relationship between PTSD symptom perception and
relationship distress offers hopeful clinical implications for SA survivors and their partners. .
Keywords: PTSD, relationships, sexual assault survivors, partner perception, relationship
dissatisfaction