Premium
Associations of Army Fathers’ PTSD Symptoms and Child Functioning: Within‐ and Between‐Family Effects
Author(s) -
Parsons Aleja,
Knopp Kayla,
Rhoades Galena K.,
Allen Elizabeth S.,
Markman Howard J.,
Stanley Scott M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/famp.12358
Subject(s) - psychology , clinical psychology , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , suicide prevention , wife , family conflict , active duty , poison control , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , military personnel , medical emergency , political science , law
This study examined the within‐family and between‐family associations between fathers’ military‐related PTSD symptoms and parent ratings of children's behavioral and emotional problems. The sample included married couples ( N = 419) with children composed of a civilian wife and an active‐duty husband serving in the U.S. Army. Results indicate that changes in fathers’ PTSD symptoms over time were associated with corresponding changes in both mothers’ and fathers’ reports of child behavioral and emotional problems. These within‐family findings were independent from between‐family effects, which showed that higher average PTSD symptomatology was associated with more overall behavioral and emotional problems for children. This study uses advances in statistical methodologies to increase knowledge about how PTSD symptoms and child problems are related, both across different families and over time within families.