Bringing the war home: marital adjustment and depression in Army Reserve component spouses

Abstract

Numerous studies have researched the impact of military combat on the behavioral health of military combat soldiers. However, there is a dearth of research on Army Reserve Component spouses after their husbands' return from military combat. This study evaluated the association between marital adjustment (marital satisfaction and aggression), and depressive symptoms in spouses of Army Reserve Component soldiers who have returned from military combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. This study also evaluated the degree to which the relation between marital adjustment and depression are moderated by self-reported perceived community and military social support satisfaction. Self-report questionnaires that measure demographics and behavior problems were placed on an online survey service. 136 participants completed the survey and met inclusion criteria (e.g., female spouses of Army Reserve Component soldiers who returned after serving in military combat in Iraq or Afghanistan). Data Analysis focused on associations between marital adjustment, depressive symptoms, and self-reported perceived community and military social support satisfaction. Participants' level of self-reported depressive symptoms were significantly correlated with a self-reported measure of marital satisfaction, with self reported measures of psychological aggression, physical aggression, and sexual coercion when the participant was the victim, and of psychological aggression when the participant was the perpetrator, as well as with self-reported perceived community and military social support satisfaction. Step-wise regression analyses with self-reported depressive symptoms as the outcome variable indicated: (a) a significant main effect for a measure of self-reported perceived community social support satisfaction when it was added to a model that included a measure of marital satisfaction as a predictor variable, (b) significant main effects for measures of self-reported perceived community and military social support satisfaction when they were added to models that included a measure of marital aggression when the participant was the victim as a predictor variable or when the participant was the perpetrator as a predictor variable, and (c) no significant moderating effects for measures of self-reported perceived community or military social support satisfaction on the associations with predictor variables marital satisfaction, marital aggression when the participant was the victim, or marital aggression when the participant was the perpetrator.