(PS4-D93) Comparing Family Outcomes by Phases of the Deployment Cycle in a Sample of U.S. Military Couples

Military deployment is considered one of the most stressful experiences endured by military families (Meadows et al., 2017; Rosen & Durand, 2000). Each phase of the deployment cycle is associated with significant adjustments to the family system which, according to past studies, is often related to decreases in family functioning (Hall, 2008; Laser & Stephens, 2011). However, many of the existing studies on deployment-related family outcomes are limited in their methodology and do not capture each phase of the deployment cycle. The current study compared reports of aspects of family functioning (i.e., parenting alliance, child behavior, couple communication skills, relationship dedication, marital satisfaction, and psychological aggression) between groups of couples in three different phases of the deployment cycle: pre-deployment (within 90 days before the service member’s (SM) deployment), during deployment, and post-deployment (within 90 days following the SM’s deployment). The current sample consisted of married couples in which the husband was an active-duty Army personnel and the wives were civilians (N  = 283). These couples were participating in a larger study of the effectiveness of a marriage education intervention. Spouses completed surveys online and were able to complete them whether they were deployed or not.  The current analyses were based on a follow-up time point of approximately 18 months after the intervention phase of the study.
Surprisingly, one-way ANOVAs indicated that there were no significant differences in wives’ reports of family functioning variables between the three deployment groups. For husbands, there was only a significant difference in reports of parenting alliance (F (2, 241) = 3.65, p < .05); specifically, that parenting alliance in the pre-deployment group (M = 25.58, SD = 8.18) was significantly lower from that of the deployment group (M = 29.02, SD= 6.16;  p < 0.05, 95% C.I. = [-7.20, -.47]).
Findings suggest that husbands may feel a weaker parenting alliance with their wives in the pre-deployment period compared to during deployment. However, this was only one significant difference found out of the 12 analyses, and Type 1 error must be considered. It may be that differences in couple functioning across the deployment cycle only become apparent when evaluating within couple (versus between couple) differences; that is, comparing family functioning for military couples over time to see how much given families vary over the deployment cycle. Moreover, between couple comparisons may have been affected by the fact that all couples in the study were actively participating in a larger evaluation of a marriage intervention (and thus may be relatively high on family functioning through the stages of deployment), by our definitions of the time frames comprising pre and post-deployment, and by evaluation of individual (husband and wife) reports separately rather than interactions between husbands and wives. Future research should track within couple family outcomes across multiple deployment cycles to better understand the variability in deployment outcomes. This may help identify the families who are most at risk, so that resources and programs may be allocated appropriately.