3 - (SYM 100) Trauma Symptoms, Social Support Processes, and Relationship Satisfaction in Newlywed Couples with Dual Histories of Child Maltreatment

Background: Many survivors of childhood maltreatment face lifelong problems with relationships, including difficulties with healthy communication and low relationship satisfaction (Riggs, 2010), suggesting the importance of examining factors contributing to relationship outcomes. Further, there is a paucity of longitudinal research on dual trauma couples who are at heightened risk of difficulties with intimacy. Therefore, the current longitudinal study aimed to explore negative social support provision and self-disclosure as mechanisms through which trauma symptoms might impact relationship satisfaction among couples in which both partners have been exposed to childhood maltreatment.

Methods: 85 heterosexual newlywed couples (94% white, non-Hispanic) who reported histories of childhood abuse and/or neglect were recruited from the Midwest. At baseline, participants completed self-report measures of trauma symptoms and were observed in a social support task to measure frequency of negative social support. One year later, couples reported the frequency of their self-disclosure and two years later completed a self-report measure of marital satisfaction.

Results: Results of a sequential mediation model controlling for baseline marital satisfaction found that negative social support provision predicted lower confiding frequency for oneself (β = -0.014, CI [-0.023, -0.003]) and one’s partner (β = -0.018, CI [-0.027, -0.005]) one year later. Further, lower confiding frequency predicted lower relationship satisfaction for oneself (β = 0.207, CI [0.080, 0.414]) but higher relationship satisfaction for one’s partner (β = -0.103, CI [-0.209, -0.011]). A significant indirect effect emerged such that lower confiding frequency mediated the association between greater negative social support and lower marital satisfaction (β = -0.003, CI [-0.007, -0.001]). Trauma symptom severity did not significantly predict outcomes of interest.

Conclusion: Adults who have survived childhood maltreatment may have difficulty with relationship satisfaction in part due to negative social support provided by their partner and resultant decreases in self-disclosure. Further, among dual trauma couples, partner self-disclosure could exert negative effects on one’s own relationship satisfaction, suggesting a need for additional support with trauma-related distress as well as healthy communication. Further research is warranted to understand the communication dynamics in dual trauma couples from other cultural backgrounds.