Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Relationship Abuse, and Physical Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The purpose of this Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (K08) is to enable the candidate to acquire training in the study of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and intimate relationship abuse. The association between PTSD and partner violence perpetration has received scant empirical attention among community samples, despite high rates of prior trauma among abusive men. The effects of PTSD on physical health has also received little attention among samples of battered women. The overarching goal of the research plan is to better understand the roles of trauma and PTSD symptoms with respect to the perpetration and deleterious health consequences of partner violence and abuse. Three sub studies are subsumed by this long-term goal. The first sub study will examine the relationship between PTSD symptoms and male partner violence perpetration and potential mediators of this association, including physiological reactivity and negative affect assessed during a conflict discussion. The second sub study will involve the direct and indirect impact of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse on physical health outcomes. Hypothesized mediators of these associations include PTSD symptoms, physiological reactivity, and negative affect. The third sub study will examine gender differences with respect to aspects of abuse perpetration and victimization, with a focus on PTSD symptoms. Participants will include couples reporting intimate relationship violence and maritally distressed, nonviolent couples. The training plan involves didactics and mentorship in the areas of PTSD and partner violence etiology, the effects of partner abuse on PTSD and health, the psychophysiology of PTSD, and advanced statistical methods. The research and training plans are intended to serve as the basis for an R01 application that further investigates the proposed models with a larger, representative community sample. It is expected that this project will elucidate the role of PTSD with respect to relationship abuse and its deleterious health effects. This enhanced understanding may in turn lead to the improved efficacy of interventions for perpetrators and victims of abuse.