Publication year
2017
Citation Title
Resilient family processes, personal reintegration, and subjective well-being outcomes for military personnel and their family members.
Journal Name
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
DOI
10.1037/ort0000278
Summary
Little is known about how family processes during a deployment (i.e. household routines and rituals, communication) affect the Service member and each family member during reintegration. This study examined how communication and household management during a deployment impacted post-deployment well-being as well as positive and negative reintegration experiences for each military family member. Results indicated that different factors impacted the reintegration experience for each family member, and that some reintegration experiences were related among family members.
Key Findings
Communication during deployment was found to be important for the reintegration experience of Service members, while household management was important for at-home partners' reintegration experience.
Both communication during deployment and household management were found to be important in the reintegration experience for youth.
Service members' positive reintegration experience was significantly related to at-home parents' level of satisfaction with military life, while youths' negative reintegration experience was significantly related to multiple facets of only their non-deployed parents' well-being.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide workshops to help deployed Service members’ partners and their youth learn about available supportive services to handle increased household responsibilities
Disseminate information regarding the importance of communication during deployment and its potential impact on the reintegration experience
Provide classes designed to enhance coping skills and well-being for the partners of deployed Service members
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs that promote the well-being of at-home partners and children during deployments
Recommend education of professionals who work with families during and after deployments on the potential effects family members can have on one another's well-being and reintegration experience
Continue to support programs that encourage frequent and positive communication between family members and Service members during deployments
Methods
A total of 273 families from an Active Duty Army installation participated in the study.
Families were recruited through print and radio ads and through flyers at nearby youth centers.
To be eligible, families had at least one Active Duty Service member, at least one youth between 11-18 years old, and the ability for all family members to take the survey concurrently.
Frequency of deployment communication, household management during deployment, positive and negative reintegration experiences, and various indicators of well-being (i.e. anxiety, parental guilt) were assessed among family members to determine how family members' experiences impacted one another.
Participants
Approximately 84% of Service members and 71% of partners were between 31-45 years old, and 67% of adolescents were between 11-14 years old (M = 14.29, SD = 2.07).
The majority of the Service members who participated were enlisted (88%) and reported having deployed one to five times since 2001 (with 56% deployed two to three times).
Service members were mostly male (86%) and partners were mostly female (84%).
Limitations
A non-random, convenience sample means conclusions may not generalize to the larger Army or military population.
No data on race/ethnicity were included; therefore, no conclusions can be drawn about if these results extend to all racial/ethnic groups.
Data were only collected at one time point; therefore, it is not possible to determine causation or the direction of effects.
Avenues for Future Research
Recruit a randomly selected sample to ensure that findings can be generalized
Recruit a racially diverse population and report in future manuscripts
Collect multiple waves of data in order to determine the direction of effects and if there are any causal relationships
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Deployment affects not just the service members, but also their family members back home. Accordingly, this study examined how resilient family processes during a deployment (i.e., frequency of communication and household management) were related to the personal reintegration of each family member (i.e., how well each family member begins to “feel like oneself again” after a deployment), as well as several indicators of subjective well-being. Drawing from the family attachment network model (Riggs & Riggs, 2011), the present study collected survey data from 273 service members, their partners, and their adolescent children. Resilient family
processes during the deployment itself (i.e., frequency of communication, household management), postdeployment positive and negative personal reintegration, and several indicators of well-being were assessed. Frequency of communication was related to personal reintegration for service members, while household management was related to personal reintegration for nondeployed
partners; both factors were related to personal reintegration for adolescents. Negative and positive personal reintegration related to a variety of subjective well-being outcomes for each individual family member. Interindividual (i.e., crossover) effects were also found, particularly between adolescents and nondeployed partners.
processes during the deployment itself (i.e., frequency of communication, household management), postdeployment positive and negative personal reintegration, and several indicators of well-being were assessed. Frequency of communication was related to personal reintegration for service members, while household management was related to personal reintegration for nondeployed
partners; both factors were related to personal reintegration for adolescents. Negative and positive personal reintegration related to a variety of subjective well-being outcomes for each individual family member. Interindividual (i.e., crossover) effects were also found, particularly between adolescents and nondeployed partners.
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