Publication year
2015
Citation Title
The role of positive emotions in reducing depressive symptoms among army wives.
Journal Name
Military Psychology
Journal Volume
27
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
22-35
DOI
10.1037/mil0000062
Summary
Army wives participated in a study to examine whether personal resources (e.g., adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and resilience) plays an important role in the relationship between positive emotions and depressive symptoms following a reunion after deployment. Positive emotions were related positively to adaptive coping and negatively to maladaptive coping, which were in turn related to fewer depression symptoms.
Key Findings
Adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and resilience affected the relationship between positive emotions and depressive symptoms.
Wives who experienced a greater number of deployments reported higher levels of positive emotions, adaptive coping, and lower depressive symptoms.
Higher marital satisfaction was related to more positive emotions.
Positive emotions had a positive relationship with adaptive coping and resilience and a negative relationship with maladaptive coping.
Implications for Program Leaders
Include content in their family education curricula on positive coping strategies, such as physical exercise, social support, and regular self-care activities
Offer peer support programs for wives, allowing those with previous deployment experience to support those for whom this is their first deployment
Partner with the fitness facilities on the installation to offer events to promote physical fitness for wives and their children
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs that offer services to partners and spouses of Service members during deployment
Continue to support family-based programs and services throughout the deployment cycle
Recommend the development of a mentoring program in which experienced spouses or partners could support newer wives across the deployment cycle
Methods
Wives whose Active Duty husbands deployed with an infantry unit to Afghanistan were recruited to participate via a link on the Family Readiness Group website.
Participants completed a web-based survey during deployment, and then approximately 3 months after deployment. The majority (90%) of participants completed the second survey.
Participants completed measures of demographics, marital satisfaction, and positive emotions at the initial survey, and coping strategies, resilience, and depressive symptoms at reunion.
Participants
Two hundred fifty-two Army wives participated.
The majority of participants were White (66%), with an average age of 25 years (SD = 3.63 years).
Sixty percent were married to junior enlisted Soldiers, 31% noncommissioned officers, and 9% commissioned officers.
Limitations
The sample was recruited from a family readiness group website which may limit the ability to generalize these findings to other military wives.
The measures were all self-reported which may introduce some biases.
The measure of positive affect was not designed to measure the construct as the authors intended, which may influence the results.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine the mechanisms by which previous deployment experience and military rank promote adaptive and resilient behaviors
Explore whether or not these findings apply to other married couples in highly stressful situations
Conduct a similar study with Service members from different branches of the military
Focus
Army
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
The homecoming period following combat deployment can be as stressful to military spouses as the deployment itself. This study used the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to examine whether personal resources (adaptive coping, maladaptive coping, and resilience) mediate the relationship between positive emotions and depressive symptoms in Army wives (N = 252) following the homecoming of a deployed active-duty service member. Using path analysis, after controlling for demographic variables and marital satisfaction, positive emotions were related to all 3 personal resources (positively to adaptive coping and resilience, negatively to maladaptive coping). In turn, adaptive coping and resilience were related to fewer depressive symptoms and maladaptive coping to greater depressive symptoms. The direct path between positive emotions and depressive symptoms was nonsignificant, suggesting complete mediation. The final model accounted for 54% of the total variance in depressive symptoms. Results support the important role that positive emotions play in decreasing depressive symptoms in this high-risk population.
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