Parenting stress among US Army spouses during combat‐related deployments: the role of sense of coherence

Abstract

The present study seeks to model the effects of parenting stress on contentment experienced by spouses of soldiers deployed to Iraq for long periods of time (n= 200). Using the ABC‐X model from family stress and resiliency theory, a path analysis determined that, in addition to parenting stress, the length of deployment and the ethnic background of the Army spouse also acted as contributing stress factors influencing not only contentment, but perception of family coping and the sense of coherence experienced by the spouse during long‐term deployments (mean = 4.6 months). The mean age of children in the home was found to have significant effect on sense of coherence in this particular sample of women. The influence of the stressors in the statistical model on life contentment was mostly ameliorated by sense of coherence (i.e. perception of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness in daily life). In other words, spouses with higher sense of coherence experienced better contentment with their lives during deployments. The study also captures qualitative responses and provides several themes associated with daily experiences of Army spouses. Implications for both military and civilian social workers are discussed.

Impact of deployment on military families with young children: A systematic review

“…Nine studies examined the associations between deployment and indicators of parent distress, family functioning, and spouses' health care utilization (Allen et al, 2011;Chartrand et al, 2008;Cozza et al, 2010;Everson et al, 2013;Flake et al, 2009;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014aLarson et al, 2012;Wilson et al, 2014). Overall, more frequent and lengthier deployments appear to be associated with greater levels of parent stress and depressive symptoms (Barker & Berry, 2009;Chartrand et al, 2008;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), poorer family or couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Cozza et al, 2010;Gewirtz et al, 2010), poorer general wellbeing Everson et al, 2013), and greater use of mental health services for the military spouse (Larson et al, 2012).…”

“…Six studies examined service members' parenting concerns associated with their deployment Lee et al, 2013;Louie & Cromer, 2014;Scannell-Desch & Doherty, 2013;Walsh et al, 2014;Willerton et al, 2011). Several described parents' fears that their children would forget them while deployed, their distress when children worried for their safety, and apprehension about childcare arrangements during deployment (Everson et al, 2013;Scannell-Desch & Doherty, 2013;Willerton et al, 2011). Five studies examined parenting challenges faced by military fathers' postdeployment Lee et al, 2013;Louie & Cromer, 2014;Walsh et al, 2014;Willerton et al, 2011).…”

“…Overall, more frequent and lengthier deployments appear to be associated with greater levels of parent stress and depressive symptoms (Barker & Berry, 2009;Chartrand et al, 2008;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), poorer family or couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Cozza et al, 2010;Gewirtz et al, 2010), poorer general wellbeing Everson et al, 2013), and greater use of mental health services for the military spouse (Larson et al, 2012). Mental health problems were particularly high among military spouses raising young children alone during deployment periods (Barker & Berry, 2009).…”

“…Using population norms to identify proportions of the sample with mental health symptoms in the "clinical range" can indicate whether these family members may require treatment from a mental health provider or if their symptoms could be more cost-effectively addressed through psychoeducation and support. Finally, there was wide variation in the types of mental health indicators examined including couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014a, family functioning (Everson et al, 2013), parenting stress (Chartrand et al, 2008;Flake et al, 2009;Louie & Cromer, 2014), psychotropic medication use (Larson et al, 2012), "life contentment" and "sense of coherence" (Everson et al, 2013), parenting concerns (Everson et al, 2013;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), marital concerns (Allen et al, 2011;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014a, and depressive symptoms (Chartrand et al, 2008), thus making it difficult to directly compare results across studies.…”

“…In addition, concerns about stigma might lead respondents to underreport their mental health symptoms. Second, only seven studies employed standardized measures with clinical cut points for estimating mental health problems (Allen et al, 2011;Chartrand et al, 2008;Everson et al, 2013;Flake et al, 2009;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014aLouie & Cromer, 2014). Using population norms to identify proportions of the sample with mental health symptoms in the "clinical range" can indicate whether these family members may require treatment from a mental health provider or if their symptoms could be more cost-effectively addressed through psychoeducation and support.…”