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The Effects of Similarity Versus Dissimilarity of Spouses' Traumatic Childhood Events on Psychological Well-Being and Marital Quality

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Marianne Amir

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

This study compared spouses who had experienced similar versus different childhood trauma in terms of post-traumatic symptomatology, psychological symptoms of distress, and marital quality. The sample comprised two groups: Holocaust child survivors who were sexually abused during the Holocaust and are married to Holocaust child survivors (n = 44) who were also sexually abused, and adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse married to nonsurvivors of sexual abuse (n = 43). All participants were administered the post-traumatic stress disorder, Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and Enrich Scale for Marital Quality questionnaires. The results revealed that compared with survivors married to partners with different past traumatic experiences, survivors who shared similar past traumatic experiences with their spouses had higher levels of PTSD, anxiety, depression, somatization, phobic-anxiety, and hostility but also expressed greater levels of marital quality.

Key Words: traumatic events • spouses • marital quality • post-traumatic stress disorder • psychological symptoms of distress

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