Effect of Short-Term Separation on Behavioral Health of Military Wives

Abstract

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.