Intergenerational Transmission of Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Offspring’s Lived Experience

Objective: The literature points to a wide spectrum of potential symptoms in different life dimensions caused by intergenerational transmission of war trauma. However, qualitative research on intergenerational transmission of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the perspective of adult offspring is scarce. The aim of the present study was to examine Israeli adults’ lived experience of growing up with a father coping with combat-related PTSD, including relationship characteristics and consequences. Method: Thirty Israeli adult offspring (19 females and 11 males) of combat-related PTSD fathers participated in the study. Data were collected via semistructured interviews and analyzed according to the interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Results: Analysis yielded five themes: (a) Intergenerational transmission of combat-related PTSD symptoms relates to posttraumatic symptoms reported by participants in connection with their fathers’ combat-related PTSD; (b) emotional instability in father–offspring relationship relates to participants’ caution around their father and fear of his reactions; (c) parent–child role reversal describes excessive responsibility taken by offspring toward their father, leading to overdependence on the father’s part; (d) threat to family integrity relates to participants’ sense of financial insecurity and the disintegrative effect of their parents’ marital problems on their own family; (e) personal development indicates posttraumatic growth experienced by the participants. Conclusions: Interventions should address the emotional instability in father–offspring relationship, the possibility of a parent–child role reversal, and family disintegration. Interventions should also encourage secondary posttraumatic growth among offspring.