1. Depression in Military Wives during Spousal Deployments Alexandra F. Colon Argosy University, Chicago

2. “The life of a military family is filled with unique stressors and concerns. Among the major issues are adjustment to a mobile lifestyle, isolation from the civilian community and extended family, adjusting to the rules and regulations of military life, and frequent family separations. In addition, worries such as jobs, childrearing, and household duties compound these stressors. All of these stressors may have an adverse effect on the physical and mental health of the military spouse. During military deployments, the demands placed on spouses often increase. Spouses often exhibit greater symptoms of depression and anxiety during and shortly after separation.” (Eaton, 2005)

3. The current demand of our military troops has caused many to serve multiple deployments. These deployments not only affect our military personnel but have a strong impact on their spouses The wives of these men are expected to keep the home together, keep the spirits of their spouses up, appear composed at all times etc. A certain persona is expected from the spouses of deployed military personnel. What percentage of military wives experience depression/anxiety?

4. Many wives, when receiving calls from their husbands, always sound happy and never let them know fears or any state side issues. Other issues I believe could lead to the spouse facing depression or anxiety are the missed holidays, birthdays, pregnancy (or children), and special occasions (i.e. wedding anniversary). Watching the time between phone calls, emails, webcam chats, and the length of time left can lead to increased anxiety.

5. Military Spouse Mental Health Outcomes and Care Utilization “Among the major issues are adjustment to a mobile lifestyle, isolation from the civilian community and extended family, adjusting to the rules and regulations of military life, and frequent family separations (Black, 2001). In addition, worries such as jobs, childrearing, and household duties compound these stressors. All of these stressors may have an adverse effect on the physical and mental health of the military spouse. During military deployments, the demands placed on spouses often increase (Martin, 1984). Spouses often exhibit greater symptoms of depression and anxiety during and shortly after separation.” (Eaton, 2005)

6. Adaptation of Military Spouses throughout the Deployment Cycle Addresses emotions and at which point those emotions are experienced. “It was found that feelings of pride, being in control, capable, and confident increased from pre-deployment to the deployment phase, while sadness, anxiety, and anger decreased. Conflict between military and family life was highest in the post-deployment stage. That is, respondents were most likely to feel that the military interfered with their family life when their partner recently returned from a deployment.” (Sudom, 2009)

7. Military Community Integration and Its Effect on Well-Being and Retention Study that was conducted on three groups Their use of social networking; if any “Differences among the three groups were found with regard to both the composition of their social support networks as well as their use of such networks. Use of support was associated with well-being, but not with retention.” (Burrell, 2003)

8. Health-Related Impact of Deployment Extensions on Spouses of Active Duty Army Personnel The study includes information not only their mental health but other areas of their lives that may be affected. “comparing those whose experienced extensions of their partners' deployments with those whose partners returned home on time or early. Controlling for demographic and deployment characteristics, spouses who experienced extensions fared worse on an array of measures, including mental well-being (e.g., feelings of depression), household strains (e.g., problems with household and car maintenance), and some areas of their jobs (having to stop work or to work fewer hours).” (Steelfisher, 2008)

9. Psychological symptoms and marital satisfaction in spouses of Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans: Relationships with spouses’ perceptions of veterans' experiences and symptoms An immense amount of pressure is placed on the military wives once they are in the community let alone when their spouse returns with a disorder. Added responsibilities can significantly increase the risk of the wives to suffer from depression and anxiety

10. “Much research has shown that spouses of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have higher rates of psychological and marital distress than do spouses of veterans without PTSD; however, very few studies have examined potential mechanisms of this increased vulnerability.” (Renshaw, 2008)

11. Missing a romantic partner The wives look forward to spending the missed time with their husband only to be faced with an issue that immensely affects their relationship. “The feelings of sadness that a wife may experience when faced with a spouse with combat disorders may be influence from the amount of separation. A prototype based measure of missing administered to individuals in long-distance relationships (Study 5) correlated with commitment and attachment dimensions but only weakly with loneliness.

12. Finally, level of missing differed based on whether individuals were in a geographically distant (vs. proximal) relationships (Study 6).” (Le, 2008) It’s easier to understand the emotion experienced in a long distance relationship and in turn makes it easier to see how additional factors, such as the military life, may severely impact a marriage.

13. The long war and parental combat deployment The lifestyle as well as responsibilities the wives are forced to face make dealing with the separation and the risk of a lives lost harder than any civilian can imagine. “Findings indicate that parental combat deployment has a cumulative effect on children that remains even after the deployed parent returns home, and that is predicted by psychological distress of both the AD and AHC parent. Such data may be informative for screening, prevention, and intervention strategies.” (Lester, 2010)

14. The military experience: Perceptions from senior military officers' wives Many women in the military community look to the wives of higher ranked officials for guidance and support. These woman have more experience with the normal military life issues and are involved in the community. “The researcher presented the perceptions of these women in the identification of stress—both healthy and unhealthy—their roles, and the effect their roles as senior military officers' wives play in the psychological impact of stress.

15. In-depth interviews conducted with the participants provided a voice for senior officers' wives who tirelessly, but often silently, perform numerous roles and responsibilities associated with their husbands' positions in the military organization.” (Mcgowan, 2009) these women are the ones setting up programs to help assist other wives with coping strategies and activities to become involved in. “This study identified the coping strategies employed by these women to manage stress and the level of success for each. Implications for interventions and prevention relevant to the stress experienced by senior officers' wives are discussed.” (Mcgowan, 2009)

16. References Burrell, Durand, Fortado. (2003). Military community integration and its effect on well-being and retention. Armed Forces & Society,30, 7-24. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Eaton, Messer, Castro, Hoge. (2005). Military spouse mental health outcomes and care utilization. APA. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Le, B., Loving, T.J., Lewandowski, G.W., etc. (2008). Missing a romantic partner; A prototype analysis.Personal Relationships, 15(4), 511-532. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=35538982&site=ehost-live Lester, P., Peterson, K., reeves, J. etc. (2010). The long war and parental combat deployment: Effects on military children and at-home spouses.Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(4), 310-320. Retrieved from http://wf2dnvr12.webfeat.org/ Mcgowan, H.C. (2009). The military experience: Perceptions from senior military officers’ wives. Dissertation Abstracts International. 69(7-B), 4433. Retrieved from http://wf2dnvr12.webfeat.org/ Renshaw, K.D., Rodrigues, C.S., Jones, D.H., (2008). Psychological symptoms and marital satisfaction in spouses of operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans: Relationships with spouses' perceptions of veterans' experiences and symptoms.Journal of Family Psychology, 22(4), 586-594. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=afh&AN=34046142&site=ehost-live SteelFisher, Zaslavsky, Blendon. (2008). Health-Related impact of deployment extensions on spouses of active duty army personnel.Military Medicine, 173, 221-229. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com Sudom, K.A. (2009). Adaptation of military spouses throughout the deployment cycle. APA, 173, 221-229. Retrieved from http://web.edscohost.com