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Protective Buffering by Service Members During Military Deployments: Associations with Psychological Distress and Relationship Functioning
Author(s) -
Carter Sarah P.,
Renshaw Keith D.,
Curby Timothy W.,
Allen Elizabeth S.,
Markman Howard J.,
Stanley Scott M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/famp.12426
Subject(s) - software deployment , psychology , distress , service member , stressor , military service , military deployment , multilevel model , clinical psychology , psychological distress , military personnel , social psychology , developmental psychology , psychiatry , mental health , engineering , computer science , software engineering , archaeology , machine learning , political science , law , history
To shield a romantic partner from potential distress due to stressors occurring during deployment, service members ( SM s) may engage in protective buffering, or withholding information or concerns from a romantic partner. This study utilized data from 54 couples collected before, during, and after a military deployment to assess whether SM s engaged in protective buffering while deployed and the possible associations between buffering and psychological, relationship, and contextual factors. Only 2% of SM s indicated never engaging in protective buffering during a deployment. In bivariate analyses, only partners’ psychological distress prior to deployment was significantly associated (negatively) with protective buffering. In multilevel models with time nested within individuals, and individuals nested within couples, higher buffering was associated with less partner distress during deployment, but was also associated with higher SM distress both during and after deployment. In these multilevel models, protective buffering was not significantly associated with SM or partner marital satisfaction.