“This is not your Life…and it becomes your Life”
A Qualitative Exploration of Deployment‐related Stress and Support needs in National Guard and Reserve spouses who are Mothers of Young Children
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21320162 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abigail M Ro (0000-0003-3706-4166, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service New York NY USA, corresponding author), Ellen R Devoe (0000-0003-3071-5851, Boston University School of Social Work Boston MA USA), Gail Steketee (0000-0002-7648-2427, Boston University School of Social Work Boston MA USA), Renee Spencer (0000-0002-2876-2918, Boston University School of Social Work Boston MA USA), Meredith Richter (Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart Newton MA USA) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1364-1380 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Family Process (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0014-7370 • E-ISSN: 1545-5300 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/famp.12622 |
| PMID | 33247431 |
| OpenAlex | W3107282894 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 42 |
The adverse effects of deployment‐related stress (DRS) on military service members, spouses, and children are well documented. Findings from a recent Consensus Report on Military Families by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2019) underscore the priority of gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the diversity of today’s military families and their needs and well‐being. While social support is generally regarded as helpful during times of stress, it has not been studied extensively in National Guard/Reserve spouses who are parents of young children. This qualitative study of 30 women examines the unique ways in which DRS affects women who are National Guard/Reserve spouses and mothers of young children, as well as the processes through which they encountered support to manage these stressors. Salient themes spanned experiences involving deployment cycle phases of separation and reintegration and included both anticipated and unanticipated changes in family‐related division of labor, dynamics, and communication patterns. These were complicated by geographic, social, and cultural isolation and misguided efforts to support spouses initiated by civilians. Women managed these stressors primarily through seeking, acquiring, and repurposing existing sources of informal social support for themselves and formal supports for their children, with varying degrees of success
Guard (computer science) · Psychiatry · Social support · Software deployment · Stressor · Engineering · Health, psychology, and well-being · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology
Children on the Homefront
Positive Events and Social Supports as Buffers of Life Change Stress 1
Depressive symptoms and mechanisms of relational turbulence as predictors of relationship satisfaction among returning service members.
Ambiguous absence, ambiguous presence
Deployment and the Use of Mental Health Services among U.S. Army Wives
The Discovery of Grounded Theory
A randomized clinical trial of a postdeployment parenting intervention for service members and their families with very young children
Factors Influencing a Health Promoting Lifestyle in Spouses of Active Duty Military
Home Visiting
The Family Stress Process
Distinctions between social support concepts, measures, and models
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Mapping the Process
Qualitative Data Analysis
Social Support, Stressful Life Events, and Illness
Grounded Theory and Sensitizing Concepts
Coparenting across the Deployment Cycle
Exploring the deployment and reintegration experiences of active duty military families with young children
Spouse Psychological Well-Being
| Citations per year | 0.8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |