Communication in Online Forums About the Experience and Management of Relational Uncertainty in Military Life

Relational turbulence and psychological distress in romantic relationships in the military

“…Fourth, the antecedent conditions we identified (suspecting infidelity and perceiving change) supported and extended past work on RTT. Specifically, the keywords we used to identify narratives of intense upheaval provided a concentration of experiences that were more forceful than some of the more general deception and changes outlined in previous work (Knobloch, Basinger, et al, 2018). These antecedent conditions led to the cycle of turmoil, which is unique to the current study.…”

“…“Imagining other person’s perspective,” for example, was incorporated into “feeling conflicted” because posters’ perspective-taking was always connected to intrapersonal tension. The “providing support” code was omitted given it is beyond the scope of the current paper and is explicated elsewhere (Knobloch, Basinger, et al, 2018). When the codebook was finalized, each coder independently coded a portion of the remaining 90% of the data, meeting weekly to discuss the process and any emerging insights.…”

“…Scholars have also highlighted how military couples’ communication, in particular, is challenging during deployment and reunion (e.g., Knobloch, Basinger, et al, 2018; Knobloch & Theiss, 2012). Some studies in this vein have focused specifically on topic avoidance, noting that couples avoid topics including dangerous aspects of the service member’s assignment, confidential military information, possible future deployments, and potential relational stressors (Knobloch, Ebata, McGlaughlin, & Theiss, 2013), and that topic avoidance is more common among military than nonmilitary couples (Frisby, Byrnes, Mansson, Booth-Butterfield, & Birmingham, 2011).…”

“…Such an approach has the potential to (a) provide ecological validity for quantitative findings regarding relational turbulence, (b) offer insight into the meanings individuals assign to their experiences of turbulence, and (c) highlight how communication influences relational turbulence from individuals’ own words. Moreover, qualitative data can offer conceptual clarity and consistency, which are vital for scientific progress and the advancement of theory (see Knobloch, Basinger, et al, 2018).…”

“…Qualitative inquiry can provide an important complement to that literature. Similar to prior investigations that used qualitative analysis to illuminate the properties and dimensions of relational uncertainty and partner interference in the context of military couples (Knobloch, Basinger, et al, 2018;Knobloch & Theiss, 2012), we seek to provide an inductive perspective on the experience of relational turbulence. Such an approach has the potential to (a) provide ecological validity for quantitative findings regarding relational turbulence, (b) offer insight into the meanings individuals assign to their experiences of turbulence, and (c) highlight how communication influences relational turbulence from individuals' own words.…”