Trauma contagion in partners of survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

Abstract

Partners of survivors of childhood sexual abuse may develop a "trauma contagion" marked by high levels of stress, doubts about to key personal values and assumptions about the world, and a tendency to be drawn into unconscious reenactments with the survivor of the abusive relationship. Various treatment interventions are discussed, especially conjoint work with the survivor.

Erratum

“…It may require some time after brief conjoint therapy (4-12 months) for both partners to recognize and confirm basic changes in the quality of affective communication and in their capability to express emotions. Our findings were not closely consistent with those of Maltas and Shay (1995), who observed that when couples become involved in treatment services that are linked to a partner's sexual abuse history, they usually first focus on the sexual problems in their relationship. We found that conflict resolution and communication-skill development was the first priority so as to help ease emotional volatility in the relationship and to serve as a prelude to work on sensitive couple issues such as sexual expression and sexual satisfaction.…”

“…In this respect, it can come as an unexpected difficulty to their partners (Maltas & Shay, 1995), who often find it difficult to provide comfort and support. Many partners seem to "provide additional opportunities for suffering" (Nadelson & Polansb, 1991, p. 482) rather than facilitating healing and recovery.…”

“…Further, the partners who have not experienced sexual abuse often require help in transforming their role in therapy from helping their partners to working on their own issues and their couple relationship (Wilson & James, 1992). Maltas and Shay (1995) suggest that when partners become involved in treatment linked to their partner's abuse history, they usually focus first on sexual problems in their relationship, wish to learn more about child sexual abuse, and hope to find a way to more actively assist in their partner's recovery. They suggest that conjoint therapy can go beyond these interests and be beneficial in identifying relationship patterns that trigger flashbacks or psychological deterioration as well as providing a more functional approach to resolving aspects of sexual dysfunction.…”

Systemic Traumatic Stress: The Couple Adaptation to Traumatic Stress Model

“…These effects are considered "secondary," because they occur in those who have not been directly traumatized by the event. Frequently, these effects may resemble PTSD symptoms (Bramsen, van der Ploeg, & Twisk, 2002;Nelson & Wright, 1996), but may be less intense (Maltas & Shay, 1995).…”

The effects of trauma on intimate relationships: A qualitative study with clinical couples.

“…These effects are considered "secondary" because they occur in those who have not been directly traumatized by the event. Frequently, these effects may resemble PTSD symptoms (Bramsen, van der Ploeg, & Twisk, 2002;Nelson & Wright, 1996), but may be less intense (Maltas & Shay, 1995).Several authors have described the secondary effects traumatic events have on children (Barnes, 1998;Steinberg, 1998), spouses and partners (Arzi et al, 2000;Bramsen et al, 2002;Lev-Wiesel & Amir, 2001;McCann & Pearlman, 1990;Nelson & Wampler, 2000;Nelson, Wangsgaard, Yorgason, Higgins Kessler, & Carter-Vassol, 2002;Nelson & Wright, 1996), therapists (Figley, 2002;McCann & Pearlman, 1990;Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995), emergency and medical professionals (McCammon & Allison, 1995), direct and indirect witnesses (Weingarten, 2003(Weingarten, , 2004, and others who work and interact with trauma victims/survivors on a personal level. The dilemma with the secondary traumatization hypothesis is that there is limited empirical support for the theory.…”