Attachment-Based Relationship Satisfaction in Deployed and Non-Deployed Military Veterans with Prevalent PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression

CHARACTERISTIC	NON-DEPLOYED (N, %)		DEPLOYED (N, %)
Gender
Male	29	59.2%	55	80.9%
Female	20	40.8%	13	19.1%
Ethnicity
White	27	55.1%	46	67.6%
African American	12	24.5%	8	11.8%
Hispanic	6	12.2%	9	13.2%
Asian	2	4.1%	–	–
Native American	–	–	1	1.5%
Hawaiian	–	–	1	1.5%
Mixed	2	4.1%	3	4.4%
Military Branch
Air Force	10	20.4%	8	11.8%
Army	15	30.6%	33	48.5%
Navy	12	24.5%	9	13.2%
Marine Corps	12	24.5%	16	23.5%
Coast Guard	–	–	1	1.5%
More than one	–	–	1	1.5%
Number of Deployments
One	–	–	68	100.0%
Two	–	–	35	51.5%
Three	–	–	14	20.6%
Four	–	–	7	10.3%
Five	–	–	4	5.9%
Age Group
18–29	12	24.5%	5	7.4%
30–39	15	30.6%	37	54.4%
40–49	11	22.5%	15	22.1%
50–59	8	16.3%	9	13.2%
60 and above	3	6.1%	2	2.9%
Education
Secondary/Diploma	14	28.6%	21	33.3%
Some college	14	28.6%	16	25.4%
Associates	12	24.5%	12	19.0%
Bachelors	4	8.2%	11	17.5%
Graduate school	3	6.1%	3	1.6%
Not reported	2	4.0%	5	3.2%

[i] Note: Non-deployed (n = 49), Deployed (n = 68).

Table 2

Non-Deployed Veteran Subsample Correlations Between Mental Health Assessments.

	ECR-AVOID	ECR-ANX	PHQ-9	GAD-7	PCL-5	RAS
ECR-AVOID	1	.21	.13	.09	.07	–.30*
ECR-ANX		1	.35*	.26	.34*	–.23
PHQ-9			1	.85***	.67***	–.08
GAD-7				1	.60***	.09
PCL-5					1	–.03
RAS						1

[i] Note: (n = 49). ECR-AVOID = Experiences in Close Relationships avoidant secondary strategy, ECR-ANX = Experiences in Close Relationships anxiety secondary strategy, PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire-9, GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, PCL-5 = PTSD Checklist-5, RAS = Relationship Assessment Scale. * < .05, ** < .01, *** < .001.

Table 3

Deployed Veteran Subsample Correlations Between Mental Health Assessments.

	ECR-AVOID	ECR-ANX	PHQ-9	GAD-7	PCL-5	RAS
ECR-AVOID	1	.32**	.40***	.36**	.40***	–.43***
ECR-ANX		1	.24*	.27*	.38***	–.32**
PHQ-9			1	.79***	.75***	–.03
GAD-7				1	.65***	.01
PCL-5					1	.01
RAS						1

[i] Note: (n = 68). ECR-AVOID = Experiences in Close Relationships avoidant secondary strategy, ECR-ANX = Experiences in Close Relationships anxiety secondary strategy, PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire-9, GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, PCL-5 = PTSD Checklist-5, RAS = Relationship Assessment Scale. * < .05, ** < .01, *** < .001.

Table 4

Non-Deployed Subsample Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Relationship Satisfaction.

PREDICTOR	B	SE B	β	T	95% CI FOR B
Step 1
Constant	3.01	.22		13.91	[2.58, 3.45]
Time in service	.00	.00	.03	.19	[–.004, .01]
Step 2
Constant	4.57	.69		6.62	[3.18, 5.96]
Time in service	.00	.00	–.06	–.37	[–.01, .00]
ECR-AVOID	–.20	.10	–.28	–1.90	[–.40, .01]
ECR-ANX	–.16	.12	–.20	–1.30	[–.41, .09]
Step 3
Constant	4.45	.70		6.34	[3.03, 5.87]
Time in service	.00	.00	–.12	–.77	[–.01, .00]
ECR-AVOID	–.19	.10	–.27	–1.88	[–.40, .01]
ECR-ANX	–.17	.13	–.21	–1.32	[–.43, .09]
GAD-7	.09	.04	.55*	2.09	[.003, .17]
PHQ-9	–.06	.04	–.43	–1.52	[–.15, .02]
PCL-5	.00	.01	.00	.00	[–.02, .02]

[i] Note: (n = 49). ECR-AVOID = Experiences in Close Relationships avoidant secondary strategy, ECR-ANX = Experiences in Close Relationships anxiety secondary strategy, PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire-9, GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, PCL-5 = PTSD Checklist-5, CI = confidence interval; R² = .001 (F(1,47) = .04 p = .85) for Step 1; ΔR² = .072 (F(3,45) = 2.20 p = .10) for Step 2; ΔR² = .102 (F(6,42) = 1.88 p = .11) for Step 3. * < .05, ** < .01, *** < .001.

Table 5

Deployed Subsample Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses Predicting Relationship Satisfaction.

PREDICTOR	B	SE B	β	T	95% CI FOR B
Step 1
Constant	3.11	.21		14.73	[2.69, 3.53]
Time in service	.00	.00	.26*	2.15	[.00, .01]
Step 2
Constant	4.87	.51		9.60	[3.86, 5.88]
Time in service	.00	.00	.16	1.45	[–.001, .01]
ECR-AVOID	–.32	.10	–.36**	–3.11	[–.52, –.11]
ECR-ANX	–.16	.11	–.17	–1.46	[–.38, .06]
Step 3
Constant	4.53	.51		8.91	[3.51, 5.55]
Time in service	.00	.00	.20	1.81	[.00, .01]
ECR-AVOID	–.42	.11	–.47***	–3.95	[–.63, –.21]
ECR-ANX	–.25	.11	–.26*	–2.24	[–.46, –.03]
GAD-7	.02	.03	.10	.55	[–.05, .09]
PHQ-9	–.01	.03	–.04	–.19	[–.07, .06]
PCL-5	.02	.01	.32	1.90	[–.001, .04]

[i] Note: (n = 68). ECR-AVOID = Experiences in Close Relationships avoidant secondary strategy, ECR-ANX = Experiences in Close Relationships anxiety secondary strategy, PHQ-9 = Patient Health Questionnaire-9, GAD-7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, PCL-5 = PTSD Checklist-5, CI = confidence interval; R² = .066 (F(1,66) = 4.62, p < .05) for Step 1; ΔR² = .219 (F(3,64) = 7.17, p < .001) for Step 2; ΔR² = .284 (F(6,61) = 5.36, p < .001) for Step 3. * < .05, ** < .01, *** < .001.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/jvs.v8i3.330 | Journal eISSN: 2470-4768

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Language: English

Page range: 47 - 58

Submitted on: Dec 25, 2021

Accepted on: Mar 22, 2022

Published on: Aug 17, 2022

Published by: Virginia Tech Publishing

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

attachment theory,

emotionally focused therapy,

PTSD,

relationship satisfaction,

veteran

© 2022 Warren N. Ponder, James Whitworth, Kristin Ross, Tempa Sherrill, published by Virginia Tech Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 8 (2022): Issue 3