The role of problem solving appraisal and support in the relationship between stress exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms of military spouses and service member partners

• Published in: Stress and health Vol. 40; no. 4; pp. e3371 - n/a
• Main Authors: Sullivan, Kathrine S., Park, Yangjin, Richardson, Sabrina, Stander, Valerie, Jaccard, James
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Child abuse & neglect; Childhood; Children; Dyads; Evaluation; Families & family life; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental health; Middle Aged; Military Personnel - psychology; military service member; military spouse; Post traumatic stress disorder; post‐traumatic stress symptoms; Problem Solving; problem‐solving appraisal; problem‐solving support; Social Support; Spouses - psychology; Stress; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Structural equation modeling; Symptoms; post‐traumatic stress symptoms; problem‐solving support; military service member; military spouse; problem‐solving appraisal
• ISSN: 1532-3005; 1532-2998; 1532-2998
• DOI: 10.1002/smi.3371

Using a stress process lens, this paper considers the interrelationship between individual and family‐level stress exposures and military spouse resources, including problem‐solving appraisals and problem‐solving support (PSS), and their associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among both partners in military marital dyads. The study employs data from the Millennium Cohort Family Study, a longitudinal survey of married military dyads, with an initial panel of 9,872 spouses enroled from 2011 to 2013. A structural equation model explored the associations between service member and spouse childhood maltreatment exposure, nonmilitary and military stressors, as well as interactions with spouse resources on self‐reported PTSS among both service member (SM) and spouse (SP). Among our findings, spouse childhood maltreatment muted later self‐reported problem‐solving appraisal and support. Spouse resources, in turn, had both protective (problem‐solving appraisal) and promotive (problem‐solving support) effects on PTSS for both service members and spouses. These findings emphasise the central role of spouses in military families, as more psychological resources among spouses appeared to buffer against the deleterious effects of stress exposure on both their own and their partners mental health.