Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Family-Related Experiences During Deployment and Their Role in the Postdeployment Mental Health of OEF/OIF Veterans

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
War and Family Life

Part of the book series: Risk and Resilience in Military and Veteran Families ((RRMV))

Abstract

Military deployments often introduce a variety of family-related stressors for both service members and their family members. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize what is known about the effects of deployment, and associated family-related experiences during deployment, on service members and their families. Following a review of the existing literature, preliminary study findings are presented regarding the nature and consequences of deployment family experiences for the postdeployment health and adjustment of service members deployed in support of the recent wars in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom; OEF) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom; OIF). These findings, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,046 OEF/OIF veterans, revealed that contemporary war veterans experience a variety of both objective and subjective family stressors during deployment. In turn, these experiences, as well as deployment social support from loved ones, demonstrate unique relationships with a variety of postdeployment mental health and adjustment outcomes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future directions for research in this area, underscoring the need for additional prospective studies and more attention to the nature of family stressors experienced by family members.

Note: This project was supported by two Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service grants: “Further Development and Validation of the DRRI” (DHI 05-130-3), Dawne Vogt, Principal Investigator, and “Validation of Modified DRRI Scales in a National Sample of OEF/OIF Veterans” (DHI 09-086), Dawne Vogt, Principal Investigator.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, E. S., Rhoades, G. K., Stanley, S. M., & Markman, H. J. (2010). Hitting home: Relationships between recent deployment, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and marital functioning for Army couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(3), 280–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, L., & Berry, K. D. (2009). Developmental issues impacting military families with young children during single and multiple deployments. Military Medicine, 174, 1033–1040. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Guth, D., Steer, R. A., & Ball, R. (1997). Screening for major depression disorders in medical inpatients with the Beck Depression Inventory for Primary Care. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 785–791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years later. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard, E. B., Jones-Alexander, J., Buckley, T. C., & Forneris, C. A. (1996). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34(8), 669–673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra, A., Martin, L. T., Hawkins, S., & Richardson, A. (2010). The impact of parental deployment on child social and emotional functioning: Perspectives of school staff. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46, 218–223. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandra, A., Sandraluz, L-C, Jaycox, L. H., Tanielian, T., Han, B., Burns, R. M., & Rudger, T. (2011). Views from the homefront: The experiences of youth and spouses from military families. RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cozza, S. J. (2011). Meeting the wartime needs of military children and adolescents. In J. I. Ruzek, P. P. Schnurr, J. J. Vasterling, & M. J. Friedman (Eds.), Caring for veterans with deployment-related stress disorders: Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond (pp. 171–190). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Defense. (2011). Demographics 2011: Profile of the military community. Washington, DC: Department of Defense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewing, J. A. (1984). Detecting alcoholism. JAMA, 252(14), 1905–1907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flake, E. M., Davis, B., Johnson, P. L., & Middleton, L. S. (2009). The psychosocial effects of deployment on military children. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 30, 271–278. doi:10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181aac6e4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galovski, T., & Lyons, J. A. (2004). Psychological sequelae of combat violence: A review of the impact of PTSD on veteran’s family and possible intervention. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 9, 477–501. doi:10.1016/S1359-1789(03)00045-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorman, L. A., Blow, A. J., Ames, B. D., & Reed, P. L. (2011). National Guard families after combat: Mental health use of mental health services, and perceived treatment barriers. Psychiatric Services, 62(1), 28–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoge, C. W., Auchterlone, J. L., & Milliken, C. S. (2006). Mental health problems, use of mental health services, and attrition from military service after returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. JAMA, 295(9), 1023–1032.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoge, C. W., Castro, C. A., Messer, S. C., McGurk, D., Cotting, D. I., & Koffman, R. L. (2004). Combat Duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Mental Health Problems, and Barriers to Care. The New England Journal Of Medicine, 351(1), 13-22. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa040603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Institute of Medicine. (2013). Returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of readjustment needs of veterans, service members, and their families. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang, H. K., & Hyams, K. C. (2005). Mental health care needs among recent war veterans. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(13), 1289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karney, B. R., & Crown, J. S. (2007). Families under stress: An assessment of data, theory, and research on marriage and divorce in the military (599). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, L., King, D., Vogt, D., Knight, J., & Samper, R. (2006). Deployment risk and resilience inventory: A collection of measures for studying deployment-related experiences of military personnel and veterans. Military Psychology, 18, 89–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Bash, H. A. J., Vogt, D. S., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (2009). Deployment stressors of the Iraq War: Insights from the mainstream media. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(2), 231–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson, M., Mohr, B., Adams, R., Ritter, G., Perloff, J., Williams, T., & … Tompkins, C. (2012). Association of military deployment of a parent or spouse and changes in dependent use of health care services. Medical Care, 50, 821–828. doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e31825516d8

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapierre, C. B., Schwegler, A. F., & LaBauve, B. J. (2007). Posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms in soldiers returning from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 20, 933-943. doi:10.1002/jts.20278

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, P., Peterson, K., Reeves, J., Knauss, L., Glover, D., Mogil, C., & … Beardslee, W. (2010). The long war and parental combat deployment: Effects on military children and at-home spouses. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 310–320. doi:10.1016/j.jaac. 2010.01.003

    Google Scholar 

  • Maholmes, V. (2012). Adjustment of children and youth in military families: Toward developmental understandings. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 430–435. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00256.x.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, A. J., Kaufman, J. S., Marshall, S. W., Gaynes, B. N., Morrissey, J. P., & Engel, C. C. (2010). Deployment and the use of mental health services among US Army wives. New England Journal of Medicine, 362(2), 101–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milliken, C. S., Auchterlonie, J. L., & Hoge, C. W. (2007). Longitudinal assessment of mental health problems among active and reserve component soldiers returning from the Iraq war. JAMA, 298(18), 2141–2148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mmari, K., Roche, K. M., Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. (2009). When a parent goes off to war: Exploring the issues faced by adolescents and their families. Youth & Society, 40(4), 455–475. doi:10.1177/0044118X08327873.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Negrusa, S., Negrusa, B., & Hosek, J. (2014). Gone to war: Have deployments increased divorces? Journal of Population Economics, 27(2), 473–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newby, J. H., McCarroll, J. E., Ursano, R. J., Fan, Z., Shigemura, J., & Tucker-Harris, Y. (2005). Positive and negative consequences of a military deployment. Military Medicine, 170(10), 815–819.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, C. (2008). A theory of risk and resilience factors in military families. Military Psychology, 20, 205–217. doi:10.1080/08995600802118858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, N. (2011). Military children and families: Strengths and challenges during peace and war. The American Psychologist, 66, 65–72. doi:10.1037/a0021249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pietrzak, R. H., Johnson, D. C., Goldstein, M. B., Malley, J. C., Rivers, A. J., Morgan, C. A., & Southwick, S. M. (2010). Psychosocial buffers of traumatic stress, depressive symptoms, and psychosocial difficulties in veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom: The role of resilience, unit support, and postdeployment social support. Journal of Affective Disorders, 120, 188–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pietrzak, R. H., Whealin, J. M., Stotzer, R. L., Goldstein, M. B., & Southwick, S. M. (2011). An examination of the relation between combat experiences and combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder in a sample of Connecticut OEF-OIF Veterans. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(12), 1579–1584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayers, S. L., Farrow, V. A., Ross, J., & Oslin, D. W. (2009). Family problems among recently returned military veterans referred for a mental health evaluation. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 70(2), 163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schell, T. L., & Marshall, G. N. (2008). Survey of individuals previously deployed for OEF/OIF. In T. Tanielian & L. H. Jaycox (Eds.), Invisible wounds of war: Psychological and cognitive injuries, their consequences, and services to assist recovery (pp. 87–115). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seal, K. H., Metzler, T. J., Gima, K. S., Bertenthal, D., Maguen, S., & Marmar, C. R. (2009). Trends and risk factors for mental health diagnoses among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans department of Veterans Affairs health care, 2002–2008. American Journal of Public Health, 99(9), 1651–1658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segal, D. R., & Segal, M. W. (2004). America’s military population (Vol. 59(4)). Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheppard, S. C., Malatras, J. W., & Israel, A. C. (2010). The impact of deployment on U.S. military families. American Psychologist, 65(6), 599–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SteelFisher, G. K., Zaslavsky, A. M., & Blendon, R. J. (2008). Health-related impact of deployment extensions on spouses of Active Duty Army personnel. Military Medicine, 173(3), 221–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Street, A. E., Gradus, J. L., Giasson, H. L., Vogt, D., & Resick, P. A. (2013). Gender differences among Veterans deployed in support of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28(2), 556–562. doi:10.1007/s11606-013-2333-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasterling, J. J., Proctor, S. P., Friedman, M. J., Hoge, C. W., Heeren, T., King, L. A., & King, D. W. (2010). PTSD symptom increases in Iraq-Deployed soldiers: Comparison with nondeployed soldiers and associations with baseline symptoms, deployment experiences, and postdeployment stress. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 23(1), 41–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, D., Smith, B., Elwy, R., Martin, J., Schultz, M., Drainoni, M.-L., & Eisen, S. (2011). Predeployment, deployment, and postdeployment risk factors for posttraumatic stress symptomatology in female and male OEF/OIF veterans. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(4), 819–831.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, D., Smith, B. N., King, L. A., King, D. W., Knight, J., Vasterling, J. J., & King, L. A. (2013). Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2: An updated tool for assessing psychosocial risk and resilience factors among Service members and Veterans. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(6), 710–717.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weathers, F., Litz, B., Herman, D., Huska, J., & Keane, T. M. (1993). The PTSD Checklist (PCL): Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility. Annual Convention of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. San Antonio, TX.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Women’s Health Sciences Division, National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02130, USA

    Dawne Vogt Ph.D. & Alexandra Macdonald Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Dawne Vogt Ph.D.

  3. Psychology Department at the The Citadel, Military College of South Caroline, 171 Mountrie St., Charleston, SC, 29409, USA

    Alexandra Macdonald Ph.D.

  4. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Tabatha Blount Ph.D.

  5. Department of Psychiatry and STRONG STAR Research Consoritum, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Tabatha Blount Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Dawne Vogt Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexandra Macdonald Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tabatha Blount Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dawne Vogt Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Purdue University, Military Family Research Institute, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

  2. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    David S. Riggs

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Vogt, D., Macdonald, A., Blount, T. (2016). Family-Related Experiences During Deployment and Their Role in the Postdeployment Mental Health of OEF/OIF Veterans. In: MacDermid Wadsworth, S., Riggs, D. (eds) War and Family Life. Risk and Resilience in Military and Veteran Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21488-7_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21488-7_2

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21487-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21488-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation