Traumatic events can have ripple effects on the survivor’s intimate relationships and on his or her religious/spirituality (R/S) beliefs and practices. Although both of these outcomes have been examined independently, research has yet to consider the intersection of trauma, its impacts on partners and intimate relationships, and R/S. This exploratory qualitative study involved individual interviews with 20 participants, including 11 male married veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; or subthreshold PTSD) and 9 female married partners of male veterans with PTSD (or subthreshold PTSD). Interviews explored perceptions of the roles of R/S in how participants coped with the veteran’s PTSD, both individually and as a couple. Participants described a wide array of responses in their R/S beliefs and activities, ranging from withdrawal and avoidance to deeper engagement and growth. Although many participants described drawing upon their R/S beliefs and practices to support their spouses, a few shared how female partners used R/S against their veterans in a hurtful manner. Couples described their spiritual bond with one another as facilitating communication and strengthening their relational bond. Implications for psychotherapy and future research are discussed.

中文翻译：

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宗教和灵性在管理 PTSD 及其伴侣的退伍军人中的作用。

创伤事件会对幸存者的亲密关系以及他或她的宗教/灵性 (R/S) 信仰和实践产生连锁反应。尽管这两种结果都经过独立研究，但研究尚未考虑创伤的交叉点、其对伴侣和亲密关系的影响以及 R/S。这项探索性定性研究涉及对 20 名参与者的个人访谈，其中包括 11 名患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD；或阈下 PTSD）的男性已婚退伍军人和 9 名患有 PTSD（或阈下 PTSD）的男性退伍军人的女性已婚伴侣。访谈探讨了 R/S 在参与者个人和夫妻如何应对退伍军人 PTSD 中的作用的看法。参与者在他们的 R/S 信念和活动中描述了广泛的反应，从退缩和回避到更深入的参与和成长。尽管许多参与者描述了利用他们的 R/S 信仰和实践来支持他们的配偶，但也有一些人分享了女性伴侣如何以伤害性的方式对退伍军人使用 R/S。夫妻将他们彼此之间的精神纽带描述为促进沟通和加强他们的关系纽带。讨论了对心理治疗和未来研究的影响。