Psychological Flexibility as a Framework for Understanding and Improving Family Reintegration Following Military Deployment

Objective: To explore dyadic associations between mindfulness and marital quality and gender differences in these associations—that is, the relation of each dyad member’s mindfulness with his or her own marital quality and with his or her partner’s marital quality. Background: Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of mindfulness for marital quality. However, associations of mindfulness and marital quality within and between partners are still unclear. In addition, despite marital challenges associated with deployment to war, the benefits of mindfulness for marital quality in military couples is yet unknown. Method: A sample of 228 military couples following deployment of the male partner to recent conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan completed an online survey measuring mindfulness and marital quality. Results: Actor–partner interdependence (APIM) analysis showed that, for both men and women, greater mindfulness was associated with one’s own and one’s partner’s higher marital quality. There were no gender differences in this pattern. Conclusion: Mindfulness engenders intra- and interpersonal benefits for the marital system in men and in women following deployment to war. Implications: The results emphasize the importance of a dyadic approach when examining the role of mindfulness in marital or family relations, and suggest that interventions designed to facilitate change in marital relationships in the context of deployment may benefit from integrating mindfulness-based training.

This research examined whether military service members’ deployment-related trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms and experiential avoidance are associated with their observed levels of positive social engagement, social withdrawal, reactivity-coercion, and distress avoidance during postdeployment family interaction. Self reports of deployment related trauma, postdeployment PTSD symptoms and experiential avoidance were collected from 184 men who were deployed to the Middle East conflicts, were partnered, and had a child between 4 and 13 years of age. Video samples of parent-child and partner problem solving and conversations about deployment issues were collected, and were rated by trained observers to assess service members’ positive engagement, social withdrawal, reactivity-coercion, and distress avoidance, as well as spouse and child negative affect and behavior. Service members’ experiential avoidance was reliably associated with less of observed positive engagement and more observed withdrawal and distress avoidance after controlling for spouse and child negative affect and behavior during ongoing interaction. Service members’ experiential avoidance also diminished significant associations between service members’ PTSD symptoms and their observed behavior. The results are discussed in terms of how service members’ psychological acceptance promotes family resilience and adaption to the multiple contextual challenges and role transitions associated with military deployment. Implications for parenting and marital interventions are described.

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