Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Distraction during deployment: Marital relationship associations with spillover for deployed Army soldiers
Journal Name
Military Psychology
Journal Volume
27
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
108-114
DOI
10.1037/mil0000067
Summary
Military spouses are often concerned about how their communication will affect the Service member's work performance during deployment. The relationship between spousal communication and deployed Soldiers' negative spillover was examined in the study. Results showed that poor marital relationship was strongly related to spillover for deployed Soldiers.
Key Findings
Negative spillover was defined as the extent to which a Soldier thought his conflict with his wife interfered with his work functioning.
Lower marital satisfaction, problem-focused communication, and conflictual communication were each strongly correlated with Soldiers’ work spillover; however, none of the above mentioned factors influenced the relationship between negative spillover and communication frequency.
When experiencing poorer marital satisfaction and more conflicts, military couples usually reduce their communication frequency during deployment.
Implications for Program Leaders
Develop classes and workshops for military families on how to communicate positively during deployment
Educate professionals who work with military families on recognizing the signs of marital distress in Service members to prevent spillover at work
Offer support groups for civilian spouses that promote healthy coping and family well-being
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs in order to increase military family well-being during deployment
Encourage training for professionals who work with military families on the importance of positive communication on Service members’ work performance
Raise awareness of the importance of marital satisfaction and communication on Service member’s work performance
Methods
Data were drawn from a large clinical trial where participants completed self-report questionnaires six months after marriage education intervention.
Communication frequency, conflictual communication, proportion of conversation focused on problems, and marital satisfaction were assessed with questionnaires.
Correlational analysis were used to examine the relationship between variables.
Participants
The sample included 161 Active Duty Soldiers who were married to civilian women, and were deployed during the assessment.
The average age of the participants was 28.07 years (SD = 5.84), and they were mostly White (70%), followed by Latino (14%), Black (11%), Multiracial (3%), and Asian-American (2%).
The ranks of the participants were: junior non-commissioned officers (35%), Specialists (33%), company grade officers (10%), senior non-commissioned officers (9%), Private first class (7%), Privates (3%), and field grade officers (2%).
Limitations
The participants were mostly very satisfied with their marriages, therefore the results may be hard to generalize to military couples who experience more marital distress.
Other potentially important characteristics of communication, such as who initiated the communication and the content of the communication, were not assessed in the study.
The cross-sectional design of the study made it difficult to determine the direction of the association between marital relationship and spillover.
Avenues for Future Research
Broaden the pool of participants so that Service members with different levels of marital satisfaction would be included
Have more comprehensive assessment of marital communication, and take both the Service members’ and the civilian spouses’ view into consideration
Include both objective and subjective measures of Service members’ negative spillover during deployment
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Military spouses often have concerns regarding the impact of their communication on soldiers during deployment. However, literature is mixed regarding how communication between soldiers and spouses may impact soldiers’ self-reported work functioning during deployment, suggesting the need to evaluate moderating factors. In the current study, 3 relationship factors (marital satisfaction, conflictual communication, and proportion of conversation focused on problems) were tested as moderators of communication frequency and negative marriage-to-work spillover for soldiers. Whereas the 3 relationship factors were independently related to negative spillover, none significantly moderated the relationship between communication frequency and spillover. The overall pattern of results suggests that (a) lower marital satisfaction, a focus on problems during communication, and conflictual communication are each strongly linked to spillover for deployed soldiers; and (b) military couples may be self-restricting deployment communication frequency when experiencing less marital satisfaction and higher rates of negative communication. Implications for communication during deployment are discussed.
Abstract Document
PRTW Document
Attach