Determinants of Health-Promoting Behaviors in Military Spouses During Deployment Separation

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to describe predictors of participation in health-promoting behaviors among military spouses. A total of 105 female spouses of currently deployed active duty military members were surveyed to determine their perceived stress and participation in the health-promoting behaviors of exercise, diet, checkups, substance use/avoidance, social behaviors, stress management/rest, and safety/environmental behaviors. Demographic and deployment information was also collected. Regression analyses showed perceived stress was predictive of several health behaviors including exercise, social behaviors, stress management/rest, and safety/environmental behaviors. Increased perceived stress was associated with decreased participation in these behaviors. Deployment factors predicted only dietary behaviors and stress management/rest. As the minimum anticipated length of the deployment increased, healthy dietary behavior decreased. Likewise, as the number of deployments experienced increased, stress management and rest decreased. Stress brought on by military deployment may have detrimental effects upon participation in a health-promoting lifestyle.

The Effects of Stress on Physical Activity and Exercise

“…Since this time, research designs have varied widely and have extended to include qualitative [171-179], retrospective [77, 180-183], prospective [17, 20, 184-192], and experimental work [193], although most studies are cross-sectional [143, 194-196]. Likewise, studies have narrowed from the examination of stress on the wider scope of health behaviors to a specific focus on the effects of stress on PA and exercise.…”

Impact of Deployment on Military Families

“…Although military spouses have also voiced positive aspects of deployment, a substantial number of spouses experience challenges not only during deployment but also pre-and postdeployment (American Psychological Association, 2007). Spouses cite experiencing increased distress, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic distress, and adjustment diffi culties (Booth, Wechsler, & Bell, 2007;Gewirtz, Polusny, DeGarmo, Khaylis, & Erbes, 2010;Hoge, Auchertonie, & Milliken, 2006;Lapp et al, 2010;Lester et al, 2010;Mansfi eld et al, 2010;Nelson-Goff, Crow, Reisbig, & Hamilton, 2007, 2009Padden, Connors, & Agazio, 2011a, 2011bPatzel, McBride, Bunting, & Anno, 2013;Renshaw, Rodrigues, & Jones, 2008;Sayers, Farrow, Ross, & Oslin, 2009;SteelFisher, Zaslavsky, & Blendon, 2008;Tollefson, 2008). Furthermore, in a study of military spouses with a deployed SM, Padden and colleagues (2011b) reported that perceived stress secondary to deployment accounted for 52% of the variance in mental well-being.…”

“…Examining the use of problem-and emotion-focused coping, colleagues (2011a, 2011b) reported that coping styles were also related to various demographic variables such as the spouses and SMs' ages and the number of years on active duty. In general, younger spouses and SMs with less time on active duty used more evasive and emotional coping than confrontive coping methods (Blank, Adams, Kittelson, Connors, & Padden, 2012;Padden, 2011aPadden, , 2011b. One could stipulate that this is related to the lack of knowledge and experience with military resources and other resources.…”

Hazardous alcohol consumption among spouses or partners of military service personnel: a systematic review of the literature

“…Some papers did contrast their findings to civilian estimates. Padden et al stated that the prevalence of binge-drinking among current US military spouses/partners (12.4%) was comparable with that among women in the general US population (12.1%)29 and while Blow et al stated that the prevalence of alcohol misuse among current military spouses or partners was slightly higher compared with women from general population studies (10.7% vs 8.4%),25 the authors suggest this may be an artefact of the timing of the survey (the 3 months following the return of Service personnel from deployment) rather than an actual increase in misuse. Self-reported heavy alcohol consumption among spouses or partners of veterans (2%) was reported to be lower than among women of the same age group in the general population (9%),30 suggesting this sample may in fact exhibit healthier lifestyle behaviours than the general population.…”

“…Among spouses or partners of currently serving personnel, 3.0%–10.7% met criteria for alcohol misuse using a cut-off of AUDIT score ≥8,24–27 the current gold standard for measuring alcohol misuse28 and an estimated 12.4% met criteria for occasional or regular binge-drinking (≥5 alcoholic drinks on one occasion) 29. Among the veteran community, 2% of spouses/partners of retired military personnel met criteria for heavy drinking according to self-reported monthly or daily consumption30 and 6% met criteria for alcohol abuse or lifetime alcohol dependence 31.…”