Premium
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Marital Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Forgiveness
Author(s) -
SOLOMON ZAHAVA,
DEKEL RACHEL,
ZERACH GADI
Publication year - 2009
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/j.1545-5300.2009.01301.x
Subject(s) - forgiveness , posttraumatic stress , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , prisoners of war , perception , marital status , medicine , world war ii , social psychology , population , environmental health , archaeology , neuroscience , history
The study assessed the effects of war captivity on posttraumatic stress symptoms and marital adjustment among Prisoners of War (POWs) from the Yom Kippur War. It was hypothesized that men's perception of level of forgiveness mediates the relation between posttraumatic symptoms and marital adjustment. The sample consisted of 157 Israeli veterans divided into 3 groups: 21 POWs with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 58 former POWs without PTSD, and 70 control veterans. The findings indicated that former POWs with PTSD reported lower levels of marital satisfaction and forgiveness than veterans in the other 2 groups. In addition, men's perception of level of forgiveness mediated the relationship between their posttraumatic symptoms and their marital adjustment. The theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed.