Relational and mental health outcomes of trauma and disaster in couples:The intermediary role of grit

Abstract

This study was designed to assess associations between resource loss related to the 2019 hurricane season, and traumatic event exposure history on individual and relational wellbeing. Further, the potential intermediary role of grit was explored. The study was completed with a sample of 240 heterosexual couples who reported living in or near coastal regions in the southeast US, who were at risk of experiencing disaster-related losses during the 2019 hurricane season. A modified actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was fitted using path analysis to test associations between disaster-related loss (incurred in 2019) and prior traumatic event exposure, and the outcome variables of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and attachment behaviors within and across partners, with male and female grit tested as intermediaries. Results showed higher levels of disaster-related loss in 2019 and exposure to prior traumatic events associated significantly with higher levels of PTSS within partners. Higher levels of traumatic event exposure also associated with lower grit within partners. In turn, higher levels of grit associated with higher levels of attachment behaviors and lower levels of PTSS within and across partners. Indirect effects suggested that lower grit may play an intermediary role in the path between higher trauma event exposure history and lower levels of attachment behaviors within partners. Results suggest the primacy of loss in understanding traumatic stress, and further imply the importance of grit as a potential buffer in individual and relational wellbeing.