title: Prospective study of police officer spouse/partners: a new pathway to secondary trauma and relationship violence?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been reported that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with secondary spouse/partner (S/P) emotional distress and relationship violence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationships between PTSD, S/P emotional distress and relationship violence among police recruits using a prospective design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hypotheses were tested in 71 S/Ps: (1) Police officer reports of greater PTSD symptoms after 12 months of police service will be associated with greater secondary trauma symptoms among S/Ps; (2) Greater secondary trauma symptoms among S/Ps at 12 months will be associated with S/P reports of greater relationship violence.
  
  
  METHODS
  71 police recruits and their S/Ps were assessed at baseline and 12 months after the start of police officer duty. Using linear and logistic regression, we analyzed explanatory variables for 12 month S/P secondary traumatic stress symptoms and couple violence, including baseline S/P variables and couple violence, as well as exposure and PTSD reports from both S/P and officer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  S/P perception of officer PTSD symptoms predicted S/P secondary traumatic stress. OS/P secondary trauma was significantly associated with both total couple violence (.34, p = .004) and S/P to officer violence (.35, p = .003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although results from this relatively small study of young police officers and their S/Ps must be confirmed by larger studies in general populations, findings suggest that S/P perception of PTSD symptoms may play a key role in the spread of traumatic stress symptoms across intimate partner relationships and intimate partner violence in the context of PTSD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Meffert
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Henn-Haase
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Service, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Metzler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Education and Counseling, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Best
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Service, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ayelet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirschfeld
authors.affiliation: Dissemination and Training Division, National Center for PTSD, Palo Alto, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCaslin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America; Mental Health Service, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sabra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inslicht
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America; Mental Health Service, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Neylan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Charles R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Marmar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016495:Police; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018454:Spouses; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*