This study investigates the process of resilience from the perspective of military wives during deployment. The study had two main goals: 1) to further understand the deployment experience, as it is lived personally and within the family, and 2) to develop a theory-based resilience model, guided by family stress and resilience theory, highlighting the role of communication within the family resilience process. According to the FAAR Model (Patterson, 1988; 2002), resilience involves three components: meanings, demands, and capabilities. Based on the goals of the study and the three main components of resilience, five broad research questions guided the study: How do military spouses perceive, interpret, and make meaning of their experience with spousal deployment? How do spouses cope with the spousal deployment experience? How do spouses perceive the family deployment and coping experience? What supportive resources and responses are most helpful for military spouses during spousal deployment, and why? And what supportive resources and responses are most unhelpful for military spouses during spousal deployment, and why? The data are also viewed through a lens of ambiguous loss theory (Boss, 1999; 2004; 2006; 2007), as deployment is a stressful situation that incorporates uncertainty, loss, and a presence-absence paradox for spouses and families. To investigate these questions and develop these theories, in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 military wives who were currently experiencing deployment. The results illustrate various aspects of women’s perceptions of their deployment experiences, including how they make sense of these experiences. Women did not only discuss their own personal experiences; they also reported experiences at relational and family levels. Paralleling these tri-level perceptions of the experience, women’s approaches to coping also occurred at individual, relational, and family levels. Different coping strategies within each level are outlined and discussed. Finally, women’s perceptions and evaluations of the responses they receive from others, both supportive and unsupportive, are reported and discussed. Based on the results, a transactional model of family resilience, highlighting the central role of communication, is proposed. Implications for theory (e.g., stress and resilience theories, ambiguous loss theory) and practice are discussed. Future directions for research are explored. / text

The purposes of this study were to: 1) describe the effect of short-term separation on the behavioral health of military wives using a descriptive pre-test post-test design and 2) to examine predictors of depression among wives of selected active duty military personnel during short-term separation. Specifically, the research was guided by the following questions: 1) Does post-separation depression vary based on socio-demographic characteristics? 2) Do military wives have resiliency when separated from their active duty military husbands? 3) Is short-term separation associated with a decrease in relationship satisfaction among military wives of active duty military personnel? 4) Are stress levels in military wives in response to separation associated with levels of social support or resiliency? And lastly, 5) Do socio-demographic characteristics, social support, resiliency, perceptions of stress, and/or relationship satisfaction predict depression in military wives? The data in this study was gathered using a self-administered questionnaire using a combination of five standard instruments: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Beck Depression Inventory II, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10, Perceived Stress Scale, and Relationship Assessment Scale. Thirty-two military wives of active-duty military personnel participated in the study. The typical military wife was in her early thirties, was white, had a college degree, was a homemaker and had a family income of greater than $100,000. Average length of marriage was 10 years with about two separations. The results indicated that there is no change in levels of resiliency and levels of relationship satisfaction pre- and post- separation. Sociodemographic, age, number of separations, length of separations, length of marriage, time living with the husband, and social support had no significant relationship with post-separation depression. The study revealed that resiliency is a significant predictor of stress scores, but social support was not a predictor of stress scores. Lastly, the study showed a strong relationship between stress and depression as predicted in the literature. Due to the small sample size typical of pilot studies and lack of power, findings should be interpreted with caution. The knowledge gained from this study will add to new findings about short-term separation.

Over 1.5 million U.S. soldiers have deployed oversees since the beginning of the War on Terror in 2001; consequently, spouses are faced with new physical, emotional, and psychological challenges. Many researchers have documented the effects of deployment on marriages and families. However, few researchers have explored the correlates of trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction for wives during deployment. This quantitative study, grounded in risk and resilience theory and interdependence theory, used a web-based survey to investigate the relationship between perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction in a sample of 127 military wives whose husbands were deployed oversees. The 'Events with Others' questionnaire, Dyadic Trust Scale, Commitment Inventory Revised, Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale were used. Results indicated that length of deployment did not have a statistically significant impact on marital satisfaction. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated statistically significant relationships among wives' perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction. After controlling for wives' attachment style, marital commitment and trust were significant explanatory variables of marital satisfaction. The findings from this study can inform establishing effective programs to support military marriages during deployment. Such programs will promote social change by improving satisfaction, decreasing relationship conflicts, and reducing the rate of divorce. The Armed Forces may benefit from the results of this study by addressing marital commitment and trust issues prior to deployment, thereby supporting wives, husbands, and children during deployment.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life satisfaction of the wives of naval non-commissioned officers living in an isolated military suburb. As little is known about this phenomenon an exploratory design was used. A sample group of 81 wives was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Measuring instruments used were the Heimler Scale of Social Functioning and a needs assessment. The results of the study indicated that although a small majority of the wives experience their lives as satisfactory they have a great deal of frustration. The two largest areas of low satisfaction was work and finances. It seems that these wives have sufficient support systems. The lack of transport seems to be a problem for these wives. The needs assessment identified a great interest in, and a need for certain courses, hobbies, aerobic classes and a daycare centre. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Sherry J. Haar / Research about military wives has been limited. In academia, most research centers on the soldier and/or the family as a unit. When literature does address only the wife’s perspective it rarely presents a positive portrayal of her life. However, it is not just literature that shows a gap in exposing the voice of the military wife. Art-based works rarely focus on her perspective; and methodologies, such as practice-based research, rarely utilize actual voices as inspiration. The aim of the current study was to discover the voice of the military wife, examine it through a feminist lens, and then translate those voices into artwork that represented the collective, lived experience of the women interviewed. Three methodologies were utilized to analyze and translate the voices of military wives into textile art. These three methodologies: practice-based research, phenomenology, and feminist inquiry provided a suitable structure for shaping the study to fulfill the project aim. Interviews conducted with 22 military wives revealed two overarching themes: militarization and marriage; as well as multiple subthemes. Three subthemes were recognized as being the most prominent: relationships, separation, and collective experience. These themes were used as the inspiration for the creation and installation of three textile art pieces. The current study serves to fill the gaps in both the literature and the artistic process by presenting both the positive and negative aspects of the military wife’s lived experience and using that lived experience as inspiration for textile art.

The purpose of this study was to examine the life satisfaction of the wives of naval non-commissioned officers living in an isolated military suburb. As little is known about this phenomenon an exploratory design was used. A sample group of 81 wives was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Measuring instruments used were the Heimler Scale of Social Functioning and a needs assessment. The results of the study indicated that although a small majority of the wives experience their lives as satisfactory they have a great deal of frustration. The two largest areas of low satisfaction was work and finances. It seems that these wives have sufficient support systems. The lack of transport seems to be a problem for these wives. The needs assessment identified a great interest in, and a need for certain courses, hobbies, aerobic classes and a daycare centre. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Science (Mental Health))

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