Publication year
2011
Citation Title
Perceived burden in spouses of National Guard/Reserve service members deployed during Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.
Journal Name
Journal of Anxiety Disorders
Journal Volume
25
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
346-351
DOI
10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.10.008
Summary
Male National Guard/Reserve Service members and their female spouses participated in a study examining partner perceived burden (spousal perceptions of negative life change due to their Service member's mental health concerns) in relation to Service members' mental health problems. Spouses' burden was positively associated with Service members' symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety, regardless of the clinical severity.
Key Findings
Service members' symptoms of PTSD and depression, Service member overall distress, spouses' perceptions of burden, and spouses' psychological distress were all linked empirically.
Spouses' perceived burden fully explained the associations between Service members' symptoms and spouses' psychological distress.
Spouses' burden was positively correlated with their neuroticism and avoidant coping and negatively correlated with their self efficacy.
Implications for Program Leaders
Educate spouses of Service members managing mental health problems regarding coping skills and opportunities for peer support
Disseminate information to military couples regarding the available services for couples coping with mental illness or marital issues
Offer workshops for Service members to help them recognize symptoms of PTSD
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage collaboration between DoD and community-based programs to increase military couples access to couple and family therapy and marriage retreats
Continue to support programs that offer pre- and post-deployment workshops for the spouses of deployed military Service members
Recommend the provision of additional support services for spouses during deployment (e.g., childcare)
Methods
Couples were recruited during marriage education workshops offered to Utah National Guard and Reserve members between 2007 and 2008; 51% elected to participate
Only male National Guard/Reserve members who had been deployed since 2001 and who had female spouses were included in these analyses.
Participants completed paper and pencil measures of perceived burden, PTSD symptoms, depression, personality and ways of coping.
Participants
A total of 130 male National Guard/Reserve Service members and their female spouses participated.
Average Service member age was 33.6 years (SD = 7.9 years); average partner's age was 31.5 years (SD = 7.9 years).
Mean length of marriage was 8.9 years (SD = 7.4 years).
The majority of Service members (90%) and partners (92%) were White.
Limitations
The participants were all participating in a marriage workshop, so they may be more distressed than other couples.
The sample consisted of only male Utah National Guard/Reserve members and their female partners, and these findings may not generalize beyond this population.
The measures were all self-reported, and results may be biased.
Avenues for Future Research
Continue to explore how sub clinical levels of PTSD and other mental health outcomes influence spouses' perceptions of burden
Use a longitudinal design to measure the development of spousal burden over time
Replicate this study with couples where the Service member is Active Duty
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
Spouses of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience elevated psychological distress. Recent research indicates that spouses' perceptions of burden may be one mechanism of such distress, but there are several gaps in this literature. No research has examined perceived burden in relation to symptoms other than PTSD or subclinical levels of psychological distress, and very little research has focused on characteristics of spouses that may be related to their perceptions of burden. The current study examined these variables in 130 spouses of reserve component troops deployed during Operations Enduring/Iraqi Freedom. Spouses' burden was positively associated with symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety in service members, regardless of clinical severity. Moreover, burden fully mediated the relation between each type of symptom and spouses' own psychological distress. Furthermore, levels of burden were significantly related to spouses' neuroticism, avoidant coping, and self-efficacy, but only avoidant coping remained a significant predictor of burden when accounting for service members' distress. These results suggest that a broad range of service members' symptoms are related to spouses' burden and distress, and although individual characteristics of spouses may be related to their perceptions of burden, service members' symptoms play a primary role.
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