| Title | Publication | Date/Location |
|---|---|---|
| Patterns of strengths in U.S. military couples | Journal of Child and Family Studies | 2019 Sep;29:1249–1263 |
|
Pflieger JC, Porter B, Carballo CE, Stander VA, Corry NH This study examined patterns of strengths among military couples in the Millennium Cohort Family Study (n = 9,642), including beliefs (self-mastery, positive outlook, spirituality), social support, and family communication. Results supported five patterns of strengths, with 58.4% of couples exhibiting a pattern of high strengths; 33.6% of couples exhibiting two patterns in which one member of the couple was higher on strengths than the other member; 5.1% of couples exhibiting a pattern of low strengths; and 2.9% of couples exhibiting a pattern of moderately high beliefs and social support, yet very low family communication. Higher spouse education level and service member officer rank consistently distinguished patterns of high strengths, whereas couples with lower mental health, marital quality, and military satisfaction were more likely to exhibit patterns of low strengths. These results provide a snapshot of couples early in the military career cycle and highlight the need to adopt a family-centered perspective in military resilience programs and policies. |
||
| Perceived barriers to mental healthcare among spouses of military service members | Psychological Services | 2022; May;19(2):396-405 |
|
Schvey NA, Burke DJ, Pearlman AT, Britt TW, Riggs DS, Carballo CE, Stander VA The elucidation of barriers to mental healthcare among military spouses is critical to optimizing the health of the military family and ensuring military readiness. Utilizing data from the Millennium Cohort Family Study, the current study found that logistic factors, such as lack of time or cost of services (reported by 63%), and negative attitudes towards mental healthcare (reported by 52%) were the most frequently reported barriers to care. Other reported barriers included fear of negative consequences (reported by 35%) and internalized mental health stigma (reported by 32%). Spouses with prior or current military service themselves and individuals with probable psychiatric conditions were most likely to report barriers to mental healthcare. Prospective data are needed to elucidate the associations between perceived barriers to care and actual mental healthcare utilization. |
||
| Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters in service members predict new-onset depression among military spouses | Journal of Traumatic Stress | Epub ahead of print |
|
Walter KH, LeardMann CA, Carballo CE, McMaster HM, Donoho CJ, Stander VA Among spouses of service members with probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 14% met criteria for new-onset depression over a 3-year period. The service member’s PTSD symptom cluster of effortful avoidance was associated with an increased risk of new-onset depression in spouses, underscoring the impact of service member psychological symptoms on the spouse. |
||
| Pre- and perinatal risk factors for child maltreatment in military families across the first two years of life. | Child Maltreatment | 2022 April; 1-12 |
|
Sullivan, K., Richardson, S., Ross, A., Cederbaum, J., Pflieger, J., Abramovitz, L., Bukowinski, A., & Stander, V. Military families are exposed to a unique constellation of risk factors, which may impact maltreatment outcomes. The present study examined prospective relationships between demographic, health, birth-related, and military-specific risk factors identified prior to a child’s birth on their risk for maltreatment in the first two years of life. |
||
| Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in the United States military spouses: The Millennium Cohort Family Study | Depression and Anxiety | 2018 Sep;35(9):815-829 |
|
Steenkamp MM, Corry NH, Qian M, Li M, McMaster HS, Fairbank JA, Stander VA, Hollahan L, Marmar CR This cross-sectional study assesses the prevalence of eight mental health conditions in spouses of U.S. Service members with 2 to 5 years of service and the association between deployment status and spousal outcomes, as well as concordance in psychopathology between spouses and Service members. Over one-third of spouses met criteria for at least one of the assessed psychiatric conditions. Having a partner who deployed with combat resulted in higher prevalence of anxiety, insomnia and somatization. Rates of depression, anxiety and somatization were similar between spouses and Service members. |
||
| Reducing the length of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support | European Journal of Psychological Assessment | 2020 Sep;36(5):829-838 |
|
Porter B, Kolaja CA, Powell TM, Pflieger JC, Stander VA, Armenta RA This study establishes the utility and validity of a shortened version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Using data from the first follow-up survey of the Millennium Cohort Family Study and a sample of university undergraduate students, results demonstrated that a scale half the length of the original measure (six items) assessed perceived social support about equally well as the full length MSPSS. Therefore, future Millennium Cohort and Millennium Cohort Family Study questionnaires will contain the reduced measure, saving participants time without sacrificing data quality. |
||
| Risk and Protective Factors Predictive of Marital Instability in U.S. Military Couples | Journal of Family Psychology | ePub; 2021 Dec |
|
Pflieger JC, Richardson SM, Stander VA, Allen ES The objective of this study was to predict marital instability from a range of risk and protective factors in a large, representative cohort of military couples participating in the Millennium Cohort Family Study. Factors analyzed include mental health, family communication, military experiences, and education level. Findings from this study can be used to target specific couples risk factors for marital instability and to tailor programs to at-risk subgroups. |
||
| Smoking and drinking behaviors of military spouses: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Family Study | Addictive Behaviors | 2017 Sep;77:121-130 |
|
Trone DW, Powell TM, Bauer LM, Seelig AD, Peterson AV, Littman AJ, Williams EC, Maynard CC, Bricker JB, Boyko EJ This cross-sectional study assesses the associations between stressful military experiences and tobacco use and alcohol misuse among Service member spouses. Our findings suggest that contextual characteristics about the deployment experience, as well as the perceived stress of those experiences, may be more impactful than the simple fact of Service member deployment itself. These results suggest that considering the impact of deployment experiences on military spouses reveals important dimensions of military community adaptation and risk. |
||
| The impact of family stressors and resources on military spouse's perception of post-deployment reunion stress | Military Psychology | 2020 Nov; 32(6):369-379 |
|
Mallonee SD, Riggs D, Stander VA This study explored the relationship between a variety of variables and the spouse's perception of reunion stress both independently and within their shared context. Results largely confirmed prior research on the independent relationship between each variable and reunion stress. However, the results found that many of these variables did not remain significant in the full model. Indeed, only poorer mental health among spouses and service members and greater perceived stressfulness of communication was associated with increased reunion stress as reported by spouses across all models tested. |
||
| The impact of military and nonmilitary experiences on marriage: Examining the military spouses' perspective | Journal of Traumatic Stress | 2018 Oct;31(5):719-729 |
|
Pflieger JC, LeardMann CA, McMaster HS, Donoho CJ, Riviere LA This study examined the impact of military experiences and nonmilitary family stressors on the military spouse’s perception of marital quality. After adjusting for demographic, relationship, and military characteristics, results indicated that most military experiences did not have a direct association with low marital quality, with the exception of service member posttraumatic stress. Rather, nonmilitary experiences of the military spouse, including lack of social support, caregiver burden, work-family conflict, and financial strain, increased odds of low marital quality. These findings suggest that providing additional supports to address nonmilitary family stressors experienced by spouses may strengthen military marriages. |
||
The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense of non-U.S. Government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the Department of Defense may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for Department of Defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.
Publication badge scores are provided by Altmetric.