Publication year
2010
Citation Title
Military wives' stressful disclosures to their deployed husbands: The role of protective buffering.
Journal Name
Journal of Applied Communication Research
Journal Volume
38
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
412-434
DOI
10.1080/00909882.2010.513997
Summary
Survey data were used to explore communication between military wives and their deployed spouses. Specifically, the authors examined the factors related to military wives decisions to either disclose their stressors to their deployed husbands or to shield husbands from information that may increase stress (that is, protective buffering when people hide concerns or problems to protect others). The authors also examined how military wives communication decisions were associated with their physical and mental health and marital satisfaction.
Key Findings
Wives who perceived their deployed husbands as being in greater danger were less apt to share at-home stressors.
Perceived support from husbands to share stressors was positively associated with disclosure.
Women who did share at-home stressors reported higher levels of marital satisfaction.
Withholding of stressors from husbands was associated with worse physical and mental health for wives.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer classes for military spouses pertaining to how best to talk about stressors with Service members during deployment
Offer opportunities for military wives to share their experiences with each other to bolster emotional support
Provide resources for Service members about how to support their spouses during deployment
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend that programs offer communication training for deploying military Service members and spouses to enhance their ability to support one another during the separation
Continue to support programs that offer counseling or other services to military couples following deployment
Continue support of family readiness groups for non-deployed spouses/partners
Methods
Participants were recruited through online advertisements (e.g., Craigslist, military spouse websites).
The online survey took 40 minutes to complete.
Questions assessed perceived threats to husbands safety, social support from husband, marital disclosure about wives stressors, perceptions about common military stressors, physical and mental health, and marital satisfaction.
Participants
One hundred and five military wives whose husbands were deployed and who had at least one child in the home.
The majority of wives were White (75%) with an average age of 31 years (SD = 6.9 years).
Wives were from the Army (38%), Navy (37%), Marines (18%), and Air Force (8%).
Eighty-eight percent were enlisted Service members and 12% were officers.
Limitations
This was a convenience sample, and results may not generalize to all military wives.
The relatively small sample size may have limited the ability to detect significant associations.
The measures did not account for communication about specific stressors, but stressors in general, limiting what can be ascertained from the results.
Avenues for Future Research
Use a longitudinal design to examine communication and satisfaction across the deployment cycle
Conducted a similar study with military wives whose Service member experiences injury during deployment
Incorporate reports from both partners/spouses
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
This study combines the fever model with communication privacy management to examine the conditions under which military wives are likely to disclose their family stressors or engage in protective buffering with their deployed husbands. Military wives (N =105) whose husbands were deployed and who had at least one child completed a web-based survey about the communication of family stressors during deployment. Protective buffering was associated with negative health symptoms, and disclosure was related to marital satisfaction. Wives' perceptions that their husbands were in dangerous situations as well as their perceptions that husbands were supportive of their disclosures were both related to protective buffering and disclosure.
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