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Spouses' Ability to Cope with Deployment and Adjust to Air Force Family Demands: Identification of Risk and Protective Factors

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: cspera{at}icfi.com.

	Abstract

Using data from 34,381 Air Force active-duty members, the current study examines active-duty members’ perceptions of their spouse’s or significant other’s ability to cope with deployment of unknown length and adjust to demands of being an Air Force family. Active-duty members’ perception of their spouse’s ability to cope with deployment significantly varied by rank and time married, with 35 percent of junior enlisted and 30 percent of members married less than three years indicating their spouse would have a serious or very serious problem coping with deployment of unknown length. Protective factors—unit relationship quality, leadership effectiveness, and tangible social support from community members—were positively and significantly related to members’ reports of spousal ability to adjust to Air Force family demands. The variance explained by these protective factors was highest for activeduty members who had been away from home for deployment or temporary duty for more than six months in the past twelve months.

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