Publication year
2013
Citation Title
Parenting stress among US Army spouses during combat-related deployments: The role of sense of coherence.
Journal Name
Child & Family Social Work
Journal Volume
18
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
168-178
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00818.x
Summary
Associations between length of deployment, parenting stress, family coping, and sense of coherence on contentment among Army spouses of deployed Service members were explored. Coherence was defined as perception of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness in daily life. Spouses with a higher sense of coherence were more content with their lives during their husbands' deployment.
Key Findings
The longer the Service member was deployed, the lower the levels of family coping, a sense of coherence, and the less life contentment reported by the military spouse.
Higher levels of parenting stress among spouses was associated with lower levels of family coping, sense of coherence, and life contentment.
Spouses who were better able to use family coping and had a greater sense of coherence reported higher levels of contentment in their lives.
White participants had a greater sense of coherence than non-White participants.
Implications for Program Leaders
Provide additional parental support to those who experience difficulties with coping and greater amounts of discontent during deployments
Ensure that requisite information and assistance is more widely disseminated to spouses in need
Increase opportunities for those spouses that have less experience with the military to interact with those spouses that have more experience with the military
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage programs that provide education on the relationships between length and number of deployments and family functioning
Support the design of interventions to expand existing services provided on and off installations for military spouses
Recommend pre-deployment screening for Service members' spouses so as to detect stressors (e.g., financial stress) that may worsen during deployment
Methods
Participants were eligible for the study if they were spouses of Active Duty Service members with at least one child residing in the household.
Spouses were randomly selected from military families living on an installation in southeastern U.S.
Surveys were mailed to family housing units for spouses to complete.
Participants
The sample consisted of 200 female spouses or significant others of deployed Soldiers. Average length of deployment for Soldiers was 4.6 years (range = 0-11 months).
Participants' average age was 28.1 years (range = 19-55 years). Service members' average age was 30.0 years (range = 20-52 years).
Race/ethnicity of the sample was 45% White, 22% Black, 19% Latino/Latina, 8% Asian-American, and 6% multiethnic.
Limitations
This study was on a small sample of Active Duty Army spouses, and the findings may not generalize to the spouses of Service members in other branches of the military.
Self-reports may bias the data (e.g., participants may have tried to respond in the "best" way).
Participants may differ from non-participants in a way that was not measured, but affected the outcome variables (e.g., those who responded may be functioning better than those who did not respond).
Avenues for Future Research
Replicate this study in a larger, more demographically diverse sample
Explore family dynamics and coping strategies across the span of a particular deployment cycle using longitudinal study designs
Conduct follow up assessments to measure stress levels after reintegration
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
The present study seeks to model the effects of parenting stress on contentment experienced by spouses of soldiers deployed to Iraq for long periods of time (n = 200). Using the ABC-X model from family stress and resiliency theory, a path analysis determined that, in addition to parenting stress, the length of deployment and the ethnic background of the Army spouse also acted as contributing stress factors influencing not only contentment, but perception of family coping and the sense of coherence experienced by the spouse during long-term deployments (mean = 4.6 months). The mean age of children in the home was found to have significant effect on sense of coherence in this particular sample of women. The influence of the stressors in the statistical model on life contentment was mostly ameliorated by sense of coherence (i.e. perception of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in daily life). In other words, spouses with higher sense of coherence experienced better contentment with their lives during deployments. The study also captures qualitative responses and provides several themes associated with daily experiences of Army spouses. Implications for both military and civilian social workers are discussed.
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