Publication year
2015
Citation Title
An exploration of army wives' responses to spousal deployment: Stressors and protective factors.
Journal Name
Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice
Journal Volume
4
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
212-228
DOI
10.1037/cfp0000049
Summary
Researchers conducted interviews with Soldiers’ wives regarding their stress and resilience across the deployment cycle. Wives cited an array of stressors that arose during the deployment cycle, including loss of control, managing perceived threats and uncertainty, and adjusting to changes. Wives also noted many protective factors that bolstered their resilience, such as having a sense of purpose, open communication with their deployed spouse, and having social and practical support.
Key Findings
Wives of deployed Soldiers described struggling with loss of control over decisions, fear of being alone, and lack of information about their spouses’ location and exposure to danger.
They also reported difficulties with closeness prior to deployment, noting an interplay between the desires for closeness and feeling a need for distance to prepare for deployment.
Numerous protective factors emerged, including understanding military culture, a sense of purpose during deployment, open communication with deployed spouse, and role flexibility.
Wives described both social and practical support and a sense of belonging as helpful during deployment.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide classes for couples during the pre-deployment phase to support them in discussing and planning for upcoming changes
Offer support programs for spouses to foster the exchange of social support during deployment
Host workshops for couples during the reintegration phase to help them reconnect and cope with changes in the family
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to provide support for programs for spouses of deployed Service members
Recommend education of community providers about the family challenges of deployment
Encourage Service members and their spouses to participate in marriage enrichment programs, which may be especially beneficial after deployment
Methods
Participants were recruited at community meetings and via study flyers posted on bases.
Women completed two-hour semi-structured in-person interviews regarding areas of stress and coping across the deployment cycle.
Qualitative analyses were used to code interviews such that researchers were able to identify recurrent themes present in the interviews.
Participants
The participants were 18 women from two Army bases in the southwest U.S., all of whom had a husband who was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The women were White (75%), Latina (19%), and Black (6%), and ranged in age from 22 to 40 years.
Slightly over half of the participants had experienced two or more spousal deployments, and the women had two children on average.
Over half (59%) of the women were married to officers, while the remaining 41% were married to enlisted Soldiers.
Limitations
The sample was limited to female spouses of Soldiers in the southwest; thus, results may not be generalizable to the broader population of military spouses.
The study employed snowball sampling to recruit participants, so the participants may differ from non-participants in important ways.
Spouses of officers were over-represented in the sample, limiting the generalizability of the findings.
Avenues for Future Research
Include male spouses of deployed Service members in order to obtain a broader understanding of the experience of deployment for all spouses
Follow spouses over a longer period of time after homecoming to examine long-term sources of stress and resilience
Consider the sources of stress and coping resources of spouses of members of the National Guard and Reserves
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
This study empirically developed a theoretical model of army wives’ resilience amid deployment. A sample of 18 women, representing army bases in Southern and Western parts of the United States, were interviewed about their experience of spousal wartime deployment. Through the use of grounded theory methods, findings revealed that stress unfolds across the deployment cycle. Adaptation in response to stress was found to occur through the dynamic engagement of resilience processes across individual (e.g., acculturation, purpose/meaning, emotional expression), family (e.g., communication, role flexibility, emotion regulation, problem solving, and coconstructing meaning), and sociocultural (e.g., information, belongingness, shared beliefs, practical support) levels. Implications for clinical training, assessment, prevention, intervention, and future research in couples and family psychology domains are discussed.
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