Reference:
Marini, C. M., MacDermid Wadsworth, S. M., Christ, S. L., & Franks, M. M. (2015). Emotion expression, avoidance and psychological health during reintegration: A dyadic analysis of actor and partner associations within a sample of military couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(8), 1-22. doi: 10.1177/0265407515621180
Summary:
Co-authored by MFRI Graduate Research Assistant Christina Marini, Director Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and Purdue University faculty partners, this article evaluated whether military couples’ coping strategies and emotional expression impacted each partner’s psychological health during reintegration. Authors simultaneously evaluated associations between service members’ own coping and psychological health, and how their significant others’ were impacted. The article used a sample of 175 National Guard couples who recently experienced deployment.
The authors also evaluated whether there were links between partners’ coping strategies, and whether service members’ level of combat exposure moderated any of these associations. Research results showed that, for both service members and their partners, psychological health was positively impacted by emotional expression, and negatively impacted with avoiding emotional expression. There were also significant links between service members’ psychological health and their partners’ expression, but only in the context of high combat exposure.