Everything Here is Fine: Protective Buffering by Military Spouses During a Deployment
Publication Date
9-2020
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Protective buffering, Romantic relationship, Military, Deployment, Communication
Abstract
To minimize potential distractions for deployed military service members (SMs), some nondeployed romantic partners have reported engaging in protective buffering, or intentionally withholding information or concerns to protect their deployed partner. This study assessed the associations of protective buffering and psychological distress and marital satisfaction for military couples during and after deployment. Additionally, the study explored whether protective buffering was related to SM reports of being distracted during deployment by family matters. A total of 54 couples provided data before, during, and after an Army deployment. In multilevel models, higher protective buffering by partners was associated with higher psychological distress and lower marital satisfaction for both SMs and partners during, but not after, deployment. Additionally, partners reported frequent use of protective buffering during deployment; however, protective buffering was not significantly correlated with family related distraction for SMs during deployment. Limitations and implications of these findings are discussed.
Copyright Date
6-28-2019
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by Family Process Institute. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:
Carter S. P. Renshaw K. D. Allen E. S. Markman H. J. & Stanley S. M. (2020). Everything here is fine: protective buffering by military spouses during a deployment. Family Process, 59(3), 1261–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12457
Rights Holder
Family Process Institute
Provenance
Received from CHORUS
Language
English (eng)
Publication Title
Family Process
Volume
59(3)
First Page
1261
Last Page
1274
ISSN
1545-5300
Recommended Citation
Carter S. P. Renshaw K. D. Allen E. S. Markman H. J. & Stanley S. M. (2020). Everything here is fine: protective buffering by military spouses during a deployment. Family Process, 59(3), 1261–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12457