Operational Stress Injuries and the Mental Health and Well‐Being of Veteran Spouses: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This article presents the results of a scoping review of literature focusing on the relationship between operational stress injuries (OSIs) in military veterans and spousal mental health and well‐being. Using elements of the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model as an organizing framework, the research reviewed focuses on the demands the OSIs place on the family system, as well as related capabilities and meanings, and how these demands have an impact on the spouse and the marital relationship.

The mental health and wellbeing of spouses, partners and children of emergency responders: A systematic review

“…More recent research has found that partners of military personnel with PTSD also have poor mental health outcomes themselves [ 91 , 92 ]. A systematic review found there was evidence of secondary traumatic stress in partners of help-seeking veterans with PTSD [ 93 ], and a scoping review identified negative impacts on military spouses/partners associated with a military partner’s operational stress injury, such as PTSD, depression or any psychological difficulty due to service [ 94 ]. An additional military study has found these stressors may be particularly impactful at times of transition from service [ 95 ], which may be similar for ER’s leaving their professions.…”

Canadian Career Firefighters’ Mental Health Impacts and Priorities

“…National data show that 14–33% of PSP report symptoms consistent with the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and major depressive disorders [ 13 ] and that this is associated with elevated suicidal ideation and attempts [ 14 ]. The nature of firefighting work and male-gender expectations can both contribute to unresolved PTSD and depressive symptoms, which are associated with family problems [ 15 , 16 ], alcoholism, and drug addictions [ 17 , 18 ]. This may explain the elevated suicides rates amongst firefighters [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Advancing Research and Theory on Aging Military Veterans in a Relational Context

“…There is relatively little work being conducted to investigate the concept of linked lives, social convoys, and socioemotional selectivity in older veterans. The area, though, is teeming with potential given the importance of social connectedness in adulthood and for veterans (e.g., Mitchinson et al, 2008), as well as the bidirectional influence individuals can have on each other when their lives are linked (e.g., Norris et al, 2018). Potential research agendas could focus on the role of peripheral ties (or ties that are typically considered peripheral) in this particular context, given that older adults tend to narrow in on their most intimate ties (e.g., spouses and children; Carstensen, 1995).…”

“…Little research has considered linkages—or interdependence—among veterans and their family members later in life. Borrowing from past work largely focused on younger military families, we understand that the lives of veterans and their families are interconnected as they have influence on each other's thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (e.g., Monk et al, 2018; see also Norris, Eichler, Cramm, Tam‐Seto, & Smith‐Evans, 2018). Military veterans who developed trauma after combat exposure, for example, may “transmit” their distress symptoms to others in their networks, and family members can exacerbate a service member's trauma through tense or stress‐inducing interactions (Nelson Goff & Smith, 2005; Oseland, Gallus, & Nelson Goff, 2016).…”