This study explored factors that lead to adaptation among married women in
the military during the stressor of deployment. The Double ABCX Model of Family
Stress and Adaptation (McCubbin & Patterson, 1 983a, 1 983b, 1 983c) provided a
strong theoretical model for this study, on which the empirical model for this study
was based. In this study's empirical model, the variables that led to adaptation include
the stressor event of military deployment, pile-up of demands (marital pile-up, family
pile-up, financial pile-up, and job pile-up), resources (personal resources, family
system resources, and social support resources), and perception (perception of
deployment and perception of all). The 1999-2000 United States Air Force
Community Needs Assessment was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling and
Multiple Hierarchical Regression.
The Structural Equation Modeling Analysis did not yield a path model and a
Multiple Hierarchical Regression was executed in order to determine which variables
in the path model contribute to adaptation. In this analysis, the independent variables
were entered according to the theoretical consideration of the Double ABCX Model of
Family Stress and Adaptation (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983a, 1983b, 1983c) and the
proposed path model. The results Multiple Hierarchical Regression indicate that pileup
of demands and resources provided a significant contribution to adaptation.
However, deployment and perception did not contribute to the variance in adaptation,
which was incongruent to previous findings.
The most significant limitation of the study is the disadvantages of conducting
a secondary analysis since measures available are less than ideal for the variables in
the model. There were several benefits of the study, including the inclusion of women
in the military, improvement of the Double ABCX Model of Family Stress and
Adaptation (McCubbin & Patterson, 1983a, 1983b, 1983c), and potential early
evaluation and intervention of families during periods of stress. Future research is
indicated, focusing on extended deployments, qualitative studies exploring the role of
perception in adaptation, other understudied population in the military (civilian
husbands, men in the military, and dual military couples), and additional model
improvement. / Graduation date: 2004
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/31596 |
| Date | 04 November 2003 |
| Creators | Mawdsley, Jennifer Renee |
| Contributors | Zvonkovic, Anisa M. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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