Date of Award
6-2016
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Marriage and Family Therapy: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Michael Mayhew
Second Advisor
Kathryn Mayhew
Third Advisor
Steven Lancaster
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Military, Battle Buddy, Intimacy, Support, PTSD
Abstract
Past research of military families has focused on the effects of war on the domicile unit rather than asking why such effects are present. One of the social support systems that potentially influences the development and course of PTSD is the “Battle Buddy;” a comrade during phases of training and combat. The research question that is most interesting is “How does the presence of a Battle Buddy affect the marital intimacy and support?” The present study asked returning veterans enrolled in central Minnesota college courses to respond to a plethora of surveys inquiring about their Battle Buddy relationships and their intimate relationships. A milieu of statistical tests was used to determine their relationships and to better understand this population and their relationships. The statistical findings did not confirm the author’s original hypotheses. As it pertains to the research question of the present study, it appears that the presence of a Battle Buddy in the life of a veteran as indicated by the results of the multiple-regression models increases a veteran’s intimacy with their partner. The greatest limitation of this study is the small sample size. Future studies should replicate this study with a larger sample size to include more variables in order to further explain the connection between a Battle Buddy and spousal intimacy in the life of a returning veteran.
Recommended Citation
Kraft, Jeffrey M., "Effects of Military-Based Relationships on Spousal Intimacy: An Analysis of PTSD Symptomology" (2016). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 26.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/26
