The coping experiences of Black women spouses of Veterans diagnosed with PTSD

Abstract: This study delved into the experiences of Black women married to veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their approaches to how they cope with their loved one’s disorder. The stress and coping theory were studied in psychology in the 1980s, but research went dormant until 2000. Since then, there has been increasing interest in stress and coping among researchers studying children, adolescents, and adults. This research study supports the existing body of literature on stress and coping, which offers Black women spouses (BWS) a complete narrative of their occurrences of coping while living with their husband's PTSD. This study used the generic qualitative approach and stress and coping theory to answer the primary research question: How do Black women spouses of veterans (BWSoV) diagnosed with PTSD describe their experiences of living with the family member's disorder and ways of coping? The study used video Zoom interviews with nine women aged 25 to 65. The interviews were semi-structured and open-ended, and the data was analyzed using a combination of thematic inquiry and grouping data formations. The study found three themes and eleven patterns in the participant's responses to the primary research question. Overall, this study contributes to the existing body of literature on stress and coping and offers a complete narrative of how BWSoV, diagnosed with PTSD, copes with living with a family member with the disorder.

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