stress

This article talks about secondary trauma and secondary victims - i.e. partners and others in relationship with survivors of sexual abuse. It found that couples, in which one or both partners are survivors, reported significantly lower marital satisfaction, higher individual stress symptoms, and lower family cohesion than couples with no abuse history. They found that many of the problems reported by survivors also are reported by their partners, including individual stress symptoms, isolation, poor relationship quality, and reduced intimacy.

Link: findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3658/is_200004/ai_n8884701

This article - Couples therapy for women survivors of child sexual abuse who are in addictions recovery: A comparative case study of treatment process and outcome - talks about how survivors may be more prone to addictions (the author cites 45% of female survivors experience alcohol addiction), and the role that couples/marriage therapy plays in the recovery process. They review a number of cases and come to five assertions in their conclusion:

1 - Couples therapy is of benefit, mostly with communication skills and problem solving
2 - Marital burnout, if at high levels at pretherapy, can be improved through couples therapy
3 - The benefits of couples therapy may be compromised by high stress levels in the family household
4 - Long-lasting effects may not be evident until some time after therapy has been completed
5 - A decrease in the level of depression reported by more troubled partners is not a good indicator of couple improvement

Link: findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3658/is_200101/ai_n8943277