The Role of Partner Emotional Health in the Outcomes of an Online, Self-Directed Couple Intervention for PTSD

Couple HOPES (Helping Overcome PTSD and Enhance Satisfaction) is an online self-directed couple’s intervention for relationship satisfaction (RS) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Partners of individuals with PTSD have elevated emotional health concerns, which may moderate couple intervention outcomes. The study examined whether partner mental health moderated PTSD and RS Couple HOPES outcomes. It was hypothesized that increasing baseline partner depression, generalized anxiety, and anger would predict less improvement in PTSD and RS during Couple HOPES. Military members, veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers (MMVFR) with PTSD, and their partners (n = 27) participated in a case series and uncontrolled trial of Couple HOPES. Multilevel growth models revealed that only increasing levels of partner depression predicted significantly greater gains in MMVFR PTSD. These results suggest that RS outcomes may not differ depending on partner emotional health. Partners with elevated depressive symptoms may facilitate PTSD recovery in their loved ones.