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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Traumatic Reminders, and Partner Aggressive Tendencies Among Veterans

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Abstract

This study examined whether laboratory exposure to traumatic reminders potentiated the relationship between veterans’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and intimate partner aggression (IPA) articulations elicited during an anger-induction task. The sample included 82 male Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom veterans. The Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) procedure was used to assess physical IPA articulations (i.e., expressions of physically aggressive intentions toward the partner) and verbal IPA articulations (i.e., statements intended to insult or demean the partner) made during “relationship anger” provoking scenarios. Participants were administered versions of the ATSS both with and without trauma cue presentation. Results indicated that trauma cue exposure potentiated the relationship between veterans’ PTSD symptoms and physical IPA articulations, but did not strengthen the significant relationship between PTSD symptoms and verbal IPA articulations. Findings contribute to the literature on veterans’ PTSD symptoms and IPA perpetration by highlighting the influence of traumatic reminders.

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Notes

  1. The current study did not examine responses to the neutral ATSS scenarios because there were not sufficient frequencies of IPA articulations during these scenarios (i.e., no physical or verbal IPA articulations were made in the non-trauma cued neutral ATSS scenarios, and very few were made in the trauma-cued neutral ATSS scenarios).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Department of Veterans Affairs Merit Review grant awarded to Casey T. Taft. The contents of this article do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System (116B-4), 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02130, USA

    Adam D. LaMotte, Casey T. Taft & Robin P. Weatherill

  2. Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Casey T. Taft, Robin P. Weatherill & Jillian P. Scott

  3. Psychology Service, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, 02130, USA

    Jillian P. Scott

  4. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

    Christopher I. Eckhardt

Authors
  1. Adam D. LaMotte
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  2. Casey T. Taft
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  3. Robin P. Weatherill
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  4. Jillian P. Scott
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  5. Christopher I. Eckhardt
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Correspondence to Casey T. Taft.

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LaMotte, A.D., Taft, C.T., Weatherill, R.P. et al. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Traumatic Reminders, and Partner Aggressive Tendencies Among Veterans. J Fam Viol 31, 461–466 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9776-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9776-9

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