Deployment-Related Benefit Finding and Postdeployment Marital Satisfaction in Military Couples

The effect of deployment on marriage is often perceived negatively, and the potential benefit of deployment is relatively less studied. Sixty-seven military couples with husbands who had been back from deployment for over one year completed surveys about benefit finding (i.e., thinking positively in stressful situations), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and marital satisfaction. Results suggested that wives' deployment-related benefit finding was more influential than husbands' on military couples' relationships.