Bidirectional associations between hope, optimism and social support, and trauma-related symptoms among survivors of terrorism and their spouses Michael Weinberg a,⇑ , Avi Besser b , Virgil Zeigler-Hill c , Yuval Neria d a University of Haifa, Israel b Sapir Academic College, Israel c Oakland University, United States d New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Medical Center, United States article info Article history: Received 15 November 2015 Revised 14 March 2016 Accepted 21 March 2016 Available online 22 March 2016 Keywords: Trauma Hope Optimism Social support Survivor Spouse PTSD Depression Anxiety Actor-partner interdependence model abstract The study examined bidirectional relationships between three key resources of resilience: hope, opti- mism, and social support, and a range of trauma-related symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety) among injured survivors of terror attacks and their spouses (N = 210). A series of actor-partner interdependence models were used to test the bidirectional dyadic associations. The results demonstrate negative associations between resilience resources of the survivors and their spouses and their trauma-related symptoms. Further, the levels of hope and social support reported by the sur- vivors were negatively associated with the trauma-related symptoms experienced by their spouses, whereas the level of optimism reported by the spouses was negatively associated with the trauma- related symptoms experienced by the survivors. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. 1. Introduction Terrorist events are intended to inflict fear and erode a sense of security and safety. In the last two decades, terrorist attacks have increased in sophistication, with grave impacts in terms of loss of life and damage (Bongar, 2006). Numerous studies have docu- mented the substantial psychological morbidity of direct exposure to terrorism, which includes posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (e.g., Galea, Nandi, & Vlahov, 2005; Neria, DiGrande, & Adams, 2011) anxiety, and depression (Weinberg, Besser, Campeas, Shvil, & Neria, 2012). Yet, exposure to a traumatic event by itself is not a sufficient precondition for subsequent disorders (Johnson & Thompson, 2008), leading investigators to examine additional factors that may serve as risk and protective factors. Additionally, growing knowledge in the field of traumatic events has revealed that the consequences of exposure to traumatic events are not limited to the survivors, and that these events have often affected significant others (Dekel, Goldblatt, Keidar, Solomon, & Polliack, 2005; Figley, 1995). In particular, spouses – who are often the main caregivers for those who survive traumatic experiences – are particularly vul- nerable to the development of trauma-related symptoms (Besser, Weinberg, Zeigler-Hill, Ataria, & Neria, in press; Dekel et al., 2005; Galovski & Lyons, 2004; Weinberg, 2011; Weinberg, 2013; Weinberg, Besser, Ataria, & Neria, 2016). 1.1. Survivor-spouse bidirectional relationship Previous research has demonstrated that the survivor-spouse relationship is bidirectional, namely, the unexposed spouse is not only affected by the survivor, but may also affect the survivor (Nelson-Goff & Smith, 2005). This bidirectional relationship between trauma survivors and their spouses has been observed in multiple domains including coping mechanisms, attachment styles, humor styles, dissociation, and PTSD symptoms (Ein-Dor, Doron, Solomon, Mikulincer, & Shaver, 2010; Gilbar, Weinberg, & http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.03.002 0092-6566/Ó 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc. ⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Social Work, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel. E-mail address: michaelweinberg10@gmail.com (M. Weinberg). Journal of Research in Personality 62 (2016) 29–38 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Research in Personality journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jrp