Emotion Expression, Avoidance and Psychological Health During Reintegration: A Dyadic Analysis of Actor and Partner Associations Within a Sample of Military Couples

We evaluated the extent to which military service membersÕ and their significant othersÕ coping strategies (i.e., individual use of emotion expression and avoidance) were independently associated with their ownÑand each otherÕsÑpsychological health during reintegration using an actorÐpartner interdependence model. We simultaneously evaluated actor associations (e.g., associations between service membersÕ own coping and psychological health) and partner associations (e.g., associations between service membersÕ coping and their significant othersÕ psychological health) with a sample of 175 National Guard couples who recently experienced deployment. We further evaluated (1) whether there were interactive associations among partnersÕ coping strategies and (2) whether service membersÕ level of combat exposure moderated any of these associations. Results indicated that, for both service members and significant others, psychological health was positively associated with oneÕs own emotion expression and negatively associated with oneÕs own avoidance. Moreover, there was a significant partner association between service membersÕ psychological health and their significant othersÕ emotion expression but only in the context of high combat exposure. Implications for intervention and prevention efforts are discussed.