Date

10-14-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Sarah Spiridigliozzi

Keywords

combat veteran, social support, PTSD, phenomenology

Disciplines

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Social support is a concept that is simple to grasp, yet subjective in nature and difficult to describe. Current research abounds reporting the positive impact of social support upon veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few studies describe the phenomenon of social support for combat veterans, which they attribute to PTSD symptom improvement. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in research by exploring the lived experiences of veterans who have improved symptoms that they attribute to support they have received. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight combat veterans who self-reported PTSD symptom improvement due to social support and were 18 years old or older. Descriptive phenomenological analysis was utilized to extract themes from the experiences of the participants. Twelve themes emerged from the research: coming alongside, remaining and being there through it all, shared knowledge or went through similar experiences, individualized, no surprises or judgement, essential or critical, life-sustaining, safety, camaraderie, normalized, relief/peace/decreased guilt, and providing alternative perspective. These themes were discussed from the perspective of the cognitive model of PTSD. The findings of this research demonstrate how social support can manifest from the perspective of the veteran. Furthermore, the results provide a deep and rich illustration of social support from which supporters can emulate in their interactions with veterans they care about for the purpose of alleviating their PTSD symptoms.

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