The Relationship Between Combat Experience, Veteran Pathology and the Pathology of Their Intimate Partners: What Factors Predict the Pathology of Veterans and Their Intimate Partners

Problem Statement Military members and their family members who are part of the Global War on Terrorism have experienced deployments and war for over sixteen years and with the resulting toll on both the veteran and their intimate partner. As a result, higher levels of pathology, such as PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression have been experienced by this population. While research has studied the effect of combat on military members, very little research has addressed the effects on family members. Further, no research that has been found by this researcher, has addressed the concept of resonating of pathology between the combat veteran and their intimate partner. Resonating of Pathology, or resonating pathology, for the purposes of this study, is the combat veteran and the intimate partner demonstrating the same pathology at similar levels. The Veteran’s Healthcare Services have begun to treat couples together and may have also witnessed this phenomenon. Understanding the relationship between combat, veteran pathology, and intimate partner pathology will have implications for practitioners and researchers. Understanding the factors that related to this phenomenon will have implications for both clinicians and researchers. Methods Veterans and their intimate partners from across the United States, (N = 398), were asked to complete a survey through the internet. The couples were asked to complete the survey separately, however, within the same session so that their results could be tied together. The veterans were asked to complete the Combat Exposure Scale (CES), the PTSD Check List for the DSM 5 (PCL–5), the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ–9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD–7). The intimate partners were asked to complete the PCL–5, the PHQ–9, and the GAD–7. Results Results suggest that there was a moderate relationship between combat experience and pathology for combat veterans. While other factors were examined to determine what was included to predict pathology within the veteran, combat experience ...