Partner Accommodation Associations in Intimate Couples With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

In couples with a partner with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), accommodation refers to changes in the intimate partner’s (i.e., partner without PTSD) behavior that seeks to avoid or alleviate the PTSD+ partner’s (i.e., partner with PTSD) mental health-related distress. While research shows negative outcomes associated with accommodation for the PTSD+ partner, there is minimal research on the intimate partners’ own mental health and well-being. To gain a better understanding of the outcomes experienced by the intimate partners, this study tested associations between the frequency of accommodating behaviors and the intimate partners’ psychological and relationship distress, well-being, and mental health help-seeking intentions and behaviors. Participants were 67 intimate partners of those with likely PTSD who participated in baseline assessments of a larger randomized control trial of an online couple-based PTSD intervention. A series of linear and logistic regression analyses revealed that partner accommodation was significantly positively associated with intimate partners’ own depressive symptoms, anxiety, ineffective arguing, and mental health help-seeking intentions, and significantly negatively associated with relationship satisfaction and quality of life. Accommodation was not significantly associated with trait anger, perceived health, work functioning, or mental health help-seeking behaviors. With the exception of quality of life, these results remained consistent after controlling for the PTSD+ partner’s PTSD symptom severity. Contrary to common intentions of those who accommodate, results suggest accommodation is associated with worse well-being for intimate partners.