Exploring Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors, Deployment Factors, and Adjustment Among Military Spouses

Abstract

Background Military family separations have increased significantly in the past decade and military readiness has never been so critical. This can have an impact on the adjustment of military spouses. There have been many interventions to promote the well-being of military spouses, but little, if any, has been documented on the engagement of healthy lifestyle behaviors as a tool for adjustment. Objectives The overall aim of this study is twofold: the first aim is to explore the healthy lifestyle behaviors of military spouses of service members stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The second aim is to investigate whether healthy lifestyle behaviors, deployment factors, and demographic factors are associated with and predict adjustment in these military spouses. Methods After approval by appropriate channels, study surveys were distributed to military spouses at Fort Hood, Texas. The following instruments were used for data collection: demographic questionnaires including deployment questions, the Healthy Lifestyle Profile II, the Psychological General Well-Being Index, and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Analysis was conducted using SPSS 18.0 for Mac. Results A convenience sample of 158 military spouses who met study criteria completed the study survey. Results of the study indicate that most health-promoting behaviors correlate significantly with adjustment while spiritual growth, health responsibility and stress management predict adjustment. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of military spouses were actively engaged in health-promoting behaviors. Several demographic and deployment variables also correlate highly with adjustment, but after a multiple regression analysis and a multiple analysis of variance, none of these variables were found to predict adjustment. Conclusion The employment of healthy lifestyle behaviors as a coping strategy was found to predict adjustment in military spouses. Therefore, new efforts are needed to promote opportunities for military spouses to engage more frequently in healthy lifestyle behaviors.