Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Reporting for double duty: A dyadic perspective of the biopsychosocial health of dual military Air Force couples.
Journal Name
Contemporary Family Therapy
Journal Volume
37
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
302-315
DOI
10.1007/s10591?015?9341?y
Summary
Dual military couples were recruited from a military family medicine clinic and completed questionnaires about relationship functioning. Levels of physiological stress were also assessed in both partners. Although the number of deployments did not affect reported marital satisfaction or quality, higher military rank in the wives was related to poorer marital functioning.
Key Findings
No significant relationships emerged between number of deployments or marital satisfaction, quality, or adjustment.
Higher rank in the female partner was related to lower marital satisfaction (husband report) and lower marital adjustment (wife report).
Higher levels of physiological stress in wives were predicted by lower marital satisfaction and lower marital adjustment
Levels of physiological stress in husbands were predicted by the number of his deployments.
Implications for Program Leaders
Create specific curricula for dual military couples, offering supports in managing the challenges associated with this lifestyle
Develop and offer support programs for children of dual military parents to assist them with negotiating their parents’ work duties and busy schedules
Incorporate information in relationship enrichment activities that promote effective means of managing stress
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend the development of supports for dual military couples to assist them in managing major life changes such as deployments and changing duty stations
Encourage consideration of the timing of deployment assignments for dual military partners who are raising small children
Consider work scheduling for dual military couples, striving to afford partners to have overlapping vacation time they can spend with their families
Methods
Couples were recruited when they attended an appointment at a base family medicine clinic.
Couples completed questionnaires about military and deployment history, marital satisfaction, marital quality, and marital adjustment.
Heart rate variability was also assessed with each partner via a fingertip pulse oximeter.
Participants
Dual military Air Force couples (N = 20) participated.
Forty-seven percent of partners were White; 53% of husbands and 35% of wives were African American.
The average age of husbands was 35.4 years (SD = 8.1) and 35.0 years (SD = 8.7) for wives.
Limitations
The study had a small number of dual military couples drawn from one military clinic which limits the ability to generalize findings.
Data were cross sectional which prevents the ability to draw causal conclusions.
Some variables that may have been relevant (e.g., combat exposure, lengths of deployments) were not assessed.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct qualitative studies to provide greater context for the challenges associated with dual military family life
Replicate this study with a larger, more heterogeneous group of military couples from a broader catchment area
Examine the impact of dual military couples on parenting and child well-being
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
There are approximately 1.5 million active duty service members in today’s military and approximately 726,000 (56.1 %) of these individuals are married. Therefore, healthy couple functioning is important for the military community. Although there is current literature on couple functioning in non-dualmilitary couples, there is limited research on the marital health of dualmilitary couples. This study explored the marital health (marital satisfaction, adjustment, and quality) and stress among dual Air Force couples in relation to length of time in service, rank, deployments, and level of physiological stress. Results indicated that husbands’ deployments, rank, and time in servicewere related tohis physiological distress,wives’ rank was negatively related to her marital adjustment and marital quality, and husbands’ marital satisfaction was negatively related to wives’ rank. Future research recommendations and implications for using a biopsychosocial approach for assessing dual military couples are provided.
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