Effect of cohabiting partners on the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms after emergency department visits for stroke and transient ischemic attack.
Abstract
Partners can be beneficial for patients experiencing stressful health events such as a stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA). During such events, however, partners may exacerbate early distress. The present study tested whether having a cohabiting partner modified the association between patients' early perceptions of threat (e.g., feeling vulnerable, helpless) and longer-term posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Participants (N = 328) were drawn from an observational cohort study of patients evaluated for stroke/TIA at an urban academic hospital between 2016 and 2019. Participants self-reported emergency department (ED) threat perceptions and PTSS secondary to the stroke/TIA at three days and one month post-event. Cohabiting partner status modified the association of ED threat with early PTSS. Patients with a cohabiting partner exhibited a positive association between ED threat and early PTSS, B = 0.12, p < .001; those without a cohabiting partner did not, B = 0.04, p = .067. A cohabiting partner was protective only for patients who initially reported low levels of ED threat, as patients with a cohabiting partner who reported low levels of ED threat also had lower early PTSS, B = -0.15, p = .016; at high levels of ED threat,...Continue Reading
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