Publication year
2016
Citation Title
Keeping engaged during deployment: The interplay between self-efficacy, family support, and threat exposure
Journal Name
Military Psychology
Journal Volume
28
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
78-88
DOI
10.3037/mil0000098
Summary
Resources of resilience and perceived threat were assessed in a sample of military personnel. Findings revealed that when threat exposure from deployment is high, having greater self-efficacy was beneficial to overcome the increased stressors. Family support also served as a buffer regardless of the level of self-efficacy and deployment threat exposure.
Key Findings
Military personnel with greater self-efficacy tended to fair better in the threat of exposure during deployment.
A decrease in work engagement and increased burnout were present among military personnel with high self-efficacy and no exposure to threat during deployment.
Family support served as a positive resource to military personnel, especially among those with low self-efficacy, and exposure to threat during deployment.
Implications for Program Leaders
Develop classes and workshops on building and enhancing self-efficacy for Service members and their families to help manage military-related stressful demands
Provide support groups for Service members and their families, especially to help them reappraise the expectations of deployment
Educate Service members and their families on how to deal with family contact and sustaining family support throughout the deployment cycle
Implications for Policy Makers
Support professional training for individuals who work with military families on self-efficacy and family support as it positively impacts post-threat exposure adaptation
Encourage a focus on self-efficacy and family support across all programs for military families
Continue to support programs for identification of deployment threat exposure in military families
Methods
Participants’ resources of resilience before deployment and perceived threat during deployment were assessed.
Measures included self-efficacy, exposure to threatening situations during deployment, levels of work engagement, family support, and work burnout.
Statistical analyses were conducted to examine the effects of deployment threat exposure, self-efficacy, and family support on work engagement and burnout.
Participants
The participants included 123 members from the Police Training Group and 41 Air Task Force of the Netherlands Armed Forces.
For both groups, there were only four female participants (two in each); no race/ethnicity demographics were mentioned in this study.
The mean age was 32 years for the Police Training Group and 37 years for the Air Task Force.
Limitations
Very little information was provided about the description of the sample, thus it is difficult to understand the study’s findings.
Since the statistical analyses were run for all of the participants in this study, it is difficult to interpret if there were differences in resources of resilience and perceived threat during deployment among each group.
Measuring threat exposure only at one time point, two months into the deployment and having limited information about the length of the deployment, limits the ability to determine the significance of threat exposure among military personnel.
Avenues for Future Research
Evaluate perceived threat at multiple time points throughout the deployment and after to assess the significance of exposure threat
Utilize samples with military personnel from other branches of the military, including female members
Include demographic information about the sample, such as marital status, socioeconomic status, and number of children
Focus
International Military
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
This study investigated the importance of 2 resilience resources for service members' ability to deal with threat during deployment. Military self-efficacy and family support were measured before deployment and related to work engagement and burnout levels of service members during deployment. We hypothesized that in high threat situations, low self-efficacy would lead to unfavorable outcomes, whereas in low threat situations, high self-efficacy could have negative consequences. In addition, we hypothesized that family support would compensate for both effects. The results showed these expected 3-way interactions. We found that strong self-efficacy helped service members deal with exposure to threatening situations during deployment, leading to more work engagement and less burnout. However, having strong self-efficacy without being exposed to threat during deployment reduced service members' work engagement and increased burnout. In addition, we found that the presence of family support compensated for these effects. Service members with low self-efficacy benefitted from family support when threat exposure was high, whereas service members with high self-efficacy benefitted from family support when threat exposure was low. As such, family support seemed to act as a compensatory mechanism for the potential negative effects of self-efficacy. This underlines the importance of studying the interplay between resources that help service members deal with deployment experiences. Practical implications relate to supporting service members' resilience through enhancing multiple resources.
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