Families of Veterans
This chapter focuses on wives or partners and offspring of a subsample of 115 clinically diagnosed male Vietnam veterans who had one or more children aged 6–16 at the time of the NVVRS. It defines veteran traumatization as meeting criteria for lifetime war-related PTSD. Secondary traumatization is operationalized by elevated scores on children’s internalizing or externalizing behavior problems and on wives’ demoralization. This chapter reports evidence of secondary traumatization in the veterans’ sons. Current PTSD in the veterans is associated with demoralization in their wives or partners, which in turn is associated with behavior problems in their daughters. Demoralization of the wife or partner is also associated with current alcoholism in the veterans. Even with the degree of secondary traumatization present, the veterans’ children appear at least as healthy as their counterparts in the general population.