Spousal Perception of Primary Terror Victims’ Coping Strategies and Secondary Trauma

This study examined spousal perception of terror victims' coping strategies and secondary trauma. Seventy-two spouses of civilian victims of terror were evaluated using the Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Scale–Self-Report (PSS-SR) and the COPE Inventory. Spouses of terror victims tend to perceive the victim's coping strategies as more emotion-focused than their own. The greater the spouse's perception of the victim's coping strategies as problem-focused, rather than emotion-focused, the lower the spouse's secondary trauma. Spousal perception of victims' coping strategies has a more significant effect on their own secondary trauma than their own personal coping strategies.