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. 2020 Nov 23;32(6):432-440.
doi: 10.1080/08995605.2020.1803725. eCollection 2020.

Deployment-related coping strategies in military couples: Associations with relationship satisfaction

Sarah T Giff  1 , Keith D Renshaw  1 , Sarah P Carter  2 , Lauren C Paige  1
Affiliations

Deployment-related coping strategies in military couples: Associations with relationship satisfaction

Sarah T Giff et al. Mil Psychol. .

Abstract

Military deployments are known to be stressful for both military service members (SMs) and their romantic partners. Little is known about how coping strategies used during deployment may relate to one's own and one's partner's relationship satisfaction following deployment. This project investigated the retrospective report of how 154 SMs and their romantic partners coped with deployment-related stress, using previously established coping constructs of problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidance coping. Examination of relative associations of coping strategies and mental health symptoms with SMs' and partners' relationship satisfaction showed that partners' emotion-focused coping was positively related to both SMs' and partners' relationship satisfaction, whereas partners' avoidance was negatively related to both their own and SMs' relationship satisfaction. Results highlight the importance of partner coping within military couples and point to potential strategies for coping with deployment that are associated with enhanced relationship functioning after deployment.

Keywords: Couples; coping; military; relationship satisfaction; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Actor-partner interdependence model of coping strategies as predictors of relationship satisfaction. (Standardized weights shown, all partner coping correlated with other partner coping and all SM coping correlated with other SM coping)
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Actor-partner interdependence model of coping strategies and mental health as predictors of relationship satisfaction. (Standardized weights, all SM variables correlated with one another, all partner variables correlated with one another, and partner distress and partner PTSD correlated)
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