Military children’s difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective.

Abstract

This study drew on the relational turbulence model to investigate how the interpersonal dynamics of military couples predict parents' reports of the reintegration difficulty of military children upon homecoming after deployment. Longitudinal data were collected from 118 military couples once per month for 3 consecutive months after reunion. Military couples reported on their depressive symptoms, characteristics of their romantic relationship, and the reintegration difficulty of their oldest child. Results of dyadic growth curve models indicated that the mean levels of parents' depressive symptoms (H1), relationship uncertainty (H2), and interference from a partner (H3) were positively associated with parents' reports of military children's reintegration difficulty. These findings suggest that the relational turbulence model has utility for illuminating the reintegration difficulty of military children during the postdeployment transition. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mental health symptoms and the reintegration difficulty of military couples following deployment: A longitudinal application of the relational turbulence model

“…Just as our study sought to document the trajectory of reintegration difficulty among returning service members and at‐home partners, knowledge gaps exist about how military children experience a parent's homecoming (Meadows et al, ). Both parental mental health (Chandra et al, ) and marital processes (Knobloch, Knobloch‐Fedders, Yorgason, Ebata, & McGlaughlin, ) are likely to play a role in military children's outcomes. Subsequent work that builds on our findings would be helpful for continuing to identify data‐driven recommendations to support military families during the postdeployment transition.…”

Parent–child relationships following spousal/parental death: An application of relational turbulence theory

“…RTT accounts for the interactive nature of relationships, but it often prioritizes the individual as the unit of analysis; for example, RTT often highlights the role individual perceptions play in shaping relational outcomes such as collaborative planning and support. However, the past dyadic work using the relational turbulence perspective has uncovered partner effects, indicating that the perceptions of an individual impact their relational partner and the relationship (Knobloch, Knobloch-Fedders, Yorgason, Ebata, & McGlaughlin, 2017; McLaren & Solomon, 2014; Theiss & Nagy, 2010). For instance, in their work on sexual intimacy in married couples, Theiss and Nagy (2010) found that an individual’s sexual satisfaction was negatively associated with their spouse’s reports of relational uncertainty and interference from a partner.…”

Relational Turbulence Theory Applied to the Transition from Deployment to Reintegration

“…Quantitative data have documented relational uncertainty and interference from a partner as predictors of people's appraisals of relational turbulence (Knobloch, McAninch, et al, 2016; Theiss & Knobloch, ), their relationship satisfaction (Knobloch & Theiss, ), and their communication behavior (Knobloch, Ebata, McGlaughlin, & Theiss, ; Knobloch & Theiss, ; Theiss & Knobloch, ) during the postdeployment transition. With respect to outcomes specific to the transition itself, work has revealed relational uncertainty and interference from a partner as predictors of military couples' own difficulty with reintegration (Knobloch, Ebata, McGlaughlin, & Ogolsky, ) and their children's difficulty with reintegration (Knobloch et al, ). These findings, viewed as a set, imply that relational turbulence theory has promise for illuminating the experiences of military couples and families upon reunion following deployment.…”

“…Observations gathered over time are critical for evaluating the dynamic processes articulated by relational turbulence theory in a trio of ways. First, the only longitudinal project published to date contained only three waves of data (see Knobloch, Ebata, McGlaughlin, & Ogolsky, ; Knobloch, Ebata, McGlaughlin, & Theiss, ; Knobloch et al, ; Knobloch, McAninch, et al, 2016), so a lingering task is to track the postdeployment transition across the 6 months typically ascribed to reintegration (Pincus et al, ). A second benefit of collecting more waves of data over a longer period of time is the capacity to disentangle reciprocal effects in the pathways posed by the theory (e.g., Knobloch & Theiss, ).…”

“…A final strand of research extended beyond the claims of relational turbulence theory to examine whether parental dynamics of relational turbulence spill over to the well‐being of children in military families. Using data from the three‐wave longitudinal study of 118 military couples, Knobloch, Knobloch‐Fedders, Yorgason, Ebata, and McGlaughlin () found that parents who were experiencing relational uncertainty and interference from a partner reported that their oldest child had more difficulty dealing with the challenges of reintegration. An important implication of these parental reports is that upheaval among military couples may spill over to the functioning of military children during the postdeployment transition.…”