Coming home: A prospective study of family reintegration following deployment to a war zone.

Abstract

The consequences of deployment extend beyond the service member to impact the entire family. The current investigation evaluated the unique challenges of family reintegration for partnered service members using a prospective design. In total, 76 partnered service members who deployed on a year-long, high-risk mission to Iraq were assessed across the entirety of the deployment cycle, i.e., pre-, during, and postdeployment. At follow-up, nearly 1 in 5 partnered service members reported moderate to severe difficulties in multiple aspects of family reintegration. Prospective interpersonal indicators such as preparations for deployment as a couple, shared commitment to the military, and predeployment relationship distress predicted postdeployment family reintegration difficulties. Significant interpersonal risk factors were medium to large in their effect sizes. Airmen's willingness to disclose deployment- and combat-related experiences, and postdeployment relationship distress served as concurrent interpersonal correlates of difficulties with family reintegration. Intrapersonal factors, including posttraumatic stress symptoms and alcohol misuse were concurrently related to challenges with family reintegration; predeployment alcohol misuse also predicted subsequent family reintegration difficulties. Additional analyses indicated that pre- and postdeployment relationship distress, combat disclosure, and postdeployment alcohol misuse each contributed to family reintegration when controlling for other intra- and interpersonal risk factors. Implications for prevention and early intervention strategies as well as future research are discussed.

Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in United States military spouses: The Millennium Cohort Family Study

“…Approximately half of US service members are married, equating to 1.1 million military spouses (Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), ). These spouses face a multitude of stressors, particularly during their partner's deployment, including worrying about their partner's safety, caring for children with reduced support, and re‐adjusting when their partner returns (Balderrama‐Durbin et al., ; de Burgh, White, Fear, & Iversen, ). In contrast to the more extensively studied psychological outcomes of service members and veterans, the impact of war on military spouses has received comparatively little attention.…”

Relationship changes of military couples during reintegration: A longitudinal analysis

“…The models contained five predictors, all treated as fixed effects: (a) the linear effect of time across the study, with the intercept (Time 0) designated as the first time we measured relationship changes at Wave 2; (b) the quadratic effect of time represented as time-squared (time 2 ); (c) role (1 = returning service member , −1 = at-home partner ); and (d) two cross-level interactions (Role × Time and Role × Time 2 ). Based on prior research (Balderrama-Durbin et al, 2015; Meadows et al, 2016), we also controlled for four covariates as fixed effects: (a) relationship satisfaction; (b) marital status (0 = married , 1 = dating, engaged, or civil union ); (c) deployment mission (0 = combat , 1 = peacekeeping, relief, training, or other ); and (d) first deployment (0 = no , 1 = yes ). 3…”

“…Second, to facilitate the generalizability of our results, we enrolled a nationwide sample from all military branches and regions of the country. Third, to address calls to track relationship changes sequentially (e.g., Balderrama-Durbin et al, 2015; Knobloch & Theiss, 2012), we utilized a Wave 1 assessment of demographic information at reunion, followed by seven monthly assessments of relationship changes beginning 30 days after homecoming (7,387 total observations). In what follows, we describe the implications of our data, the limitations of our study, and directions for future work.…”

“…The emotional cycle of deployment model depicts the return home from deployment as a period filled with relationship changes of both positive and negative valence (Pincus et al, 2001), but theory and research have overlooked the sequence of relationship changes that unfold over time. Although empirical work provides a general description of the issues military couples face upon reunion (Balderrama-Durbin et al, 2015; Knobloch & Theiss, 2012), it does not identify the timing of relationship changes or the pivotal junctures that are essential for helping military couples during the months after homecoming.…”

A Tale of Two Families

“…Primary interpersonal variables found to be antecedent to reintegration problems include relational difficulties prior to deployment (Cigrang et al, 2014), infrequent communication during and after deployment (Rea, Behnke, Huff, & Allen, 2015), and a lack of shared commitment to a military lifestyle (Britt, Adler, & Castro, 2006). Conversely, spouses who have enjoyed a mutually satisfying predeployment relationship, who communicate frequently during the deployment period, and who share a commitment to being a part of the military culture have shown to be generally more resilient to the challenges of postdeployment reintegration (Balderrama-Durbin et al, 2015).…”