Spousal Support May Serve to Protect Soldiers From PTSD

A study of 193 male Army soldiers returning from current conflicts found that greater communication with their wives during deployment predicted lower levels of post-deployment PTSD symptoms when marital satisfaction was high.  This was found for delayed types of communication (i.e., letters, care packages, and e-mails) as well as interactive types of communication (i.e., phone calls, instant messaging, instant messaging with video).  However, the interaction between communication frequency and marital satisfaction predicting PTSD symptoms did not reach significance for the interactive communication modality.  

Access the full article in the June issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.