Telephone Support During Overseas Deployment for Military Spouses
Abstract
Deployment impacts both service member and family, and the cost can be high. Spouses reactions to deployment may include emotional distress, loneliness, anticipatory fear or grief, somatic complaints, and depression. The goal is to help spouses learn ways to manage stress and solve problems related to deployment and reintegration, communication, managing long distance relationships, and other common problems. The study will compare telephone support groups to online education sessions. The study will enroll 160 spouses, 94 to date. In the Telephone Support groups, a group leader and participants meet 12 times over six months to focus on education, skills building and support. Education Only online sessions provide the same education content, without skills building or support. Content includes strategies to reduce or eliminate communication difficulties during deployment, how to find help; practical concerns during deployment; fostering resilience and decreasing stress; fostering relationships while apart, negotiating roles and relationships; changes during deployment; strategies to support the spouse and the service member; and cues to alert spouses when to seek mental health services for the family or themselves. Outcomes include resilience, depression, anxiety and coping behaviors. Telephone data collection is conducted at baseline, six and twelve months.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA584346
Entities
People
- Jennifer Martindale-adams
- Linda O. Nicholas