title: Psychiatric and health impact of primary and secondary traumatization in wives of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Along with primary traumatization, wives of PTSD-diagnosed war veterans often become victims of the altered and dysfunctional state of their partners, which adds to the severity of symptoms of primary traumatization and furthers the development of other mental disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of primary and secondary traumatization in wives of PTSD-diagnosed war veterans and wives of war veterans without PTSD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The experimental group consisted of 154 wives whose veteran husbands had been treated in Mostar Clinical Hospital for psychotrauma-induced PTSD. The control group was formed of 77 wives of war veterans who do not suffer from PTSD. The research used a general demographic questionnaire, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Wives of veterans with chronic PTSD experienced a significantly greater number of traumatic events (t=2.66; p=0.008) and had higher scores of PTSD symptoms (t=8.93; p<0.001). A significantly larger number of these women reported chronic somatic diseases (χ²=4.553; p=0.033). Furthermore, wives of PTSD-affected veterans significantly more frequently met criteria for current depression episode (χ²=20.65; p<0.001), past depression episode (χ²=24.40; p<0.001), depression with melancholic features (χ²=19.20; p<0.001), dysthymia (χ²=7.15; p=0.007), panic disorder with agoraphobia (χ²=5.28; p=0.022), PTSD (χ²=18.39; ss=1; p<0.001) and generalized anxiety disorder (χ²=19.58; p<0.001). This group also showed a higher level of suicidality (χ²=8.95; p=0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this research show how mental difficulties experienced by wives of PTSD-diagnosed war veterans affect the interrelationship of their primary and secondary traumatization.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Department of Clinical Hospital Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. klaricmiro@gmail.com
authors.forename: Miro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klarić
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frančišković
authors.forename: Edita Cerni
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Obrdalj
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petrić
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Britvić
authors.forename: Nikolina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zovko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare