title: Secondary traumatization and attachment among wives of former POWs: a longitudinal study.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to examine the directionality of the association between post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and attachment insecurities across time among indirect trauma survivors. Wives of former prisoners of war (ex-POWs), with and without post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and comparable controls were assessed 30 (T1) and 38 (T2) years after the Yom Kippur War. As expected, wives of ex-POWs endorsed higher PTSS compared to wives of controls. Wives of ex-POWs with PTSD endorsed higher PTSS and higher attachment avoidance compared to wives of ex-POWs without PTSD and controls. There were significant associations between PTSS and attachment insecurities. Contrary to the hypothesis, the relationship between PTSS and attachment insecurities among wives of ex-POWs was unidirectional, with attachment anxiety at T1 predicting PTSS at T2, and not vice versa. Results indicate that attachment anxiety might act as a risk factor for secondary traumatic reactions.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark , Odense , Denmark.|b I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lahav
authors.affiliation: c Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, School of Psychology , Herzliya , Israel.
authors.forename: Yaniv
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanat-Maymon
authors.affiliation: b I-Core Research Center for Mass Trauma, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv , Israel.|d Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel-Aviv University , Tel-Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Zahava
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000068376:Compassion Fatigue / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D063906:Prisoners of War / Q000523:psychology*; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: PTSD; attachment; post-traumatic stress symptoms; prisoners of war; secondary traumatization