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

Background and purpose: Using a stress process lens, this study considers the interrelationship between individual and family-level stress exposures and military spouse (SP) resources, including problem-solving appraisal (PSA-SP) and problem-solving support (PSS-SP), and their associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among both partners in military marital dyads. The military spouse is a central figure in the mental health of both partners, potentially playing a critical role in applying resources to buffer stressful family experiences. Early and recent exposure to stress among both partners was expected to be associated with lower levels of spouse resources; resources, in turn, were expected to protect against the impact of stressors on both partners’ PTSS.

Methods: This study employed data from the Millennium Cohort Family Study, a longitudinal survey of married military dyads. From the initial panel of 9,872 dyads, a subsample of dyads with young children (N=3,314) completed web-based or paper surveys. A structural equation model explored the associations between service member and spouse childhood maltreatment, nonmilitary (e.g. financial strain, illness) and military (e.g., deployment, combat exposure, relocation) stressors, as well as interactions with spouse resources (problem-solving appraisal and problem-solving support) on self-reported PTSS among both service members and spouses.

Results: For spouses, statistically significant path coefficients were observed from: 1) maltreatment, 2) non-military stressors, and 3) recent relocation to PSA-SP and PSS-SP. While spouse problem-solving support did not moderate the relationship between stressors and spouse PTSS, a direct, negative relationship was observed. Conversely, significant product term coefficients were observed for interactions between maltreatment and non-military stressors with PSA-SP, suggesting a protective effect of spouse problem-solving appraisal on the relationships between these stressors and spouse PTSS. For service members, a statistically significant relationship was observed between non-military stressors and PSS-SP. Similar to findings among spouses, PSS-SP was directly, negatively associated with service member PTSS, while PSA-SP moderated the relationship between service member maltreatment experiences and their PTSS, consistent with a buffering effect.

Conclusions and implications: Stress exposure was very high in this sample (e.g., 45.2% of service members and 62.9% of spouses experienced at least one form of maltreatment in childhood) and PTSS was correspondingly high in both groups. However, spouses’ appraisal of their problem-solving capacity and support appeared to impact the relationship between stress exposure and PTSS for both partners, suggesting possible avenues for prevention and intervention. Exposure to both early and recent stressors among both service members and spouses was associated with more limited resources among spouses. Spouse resources, in turn, had both protective (problem-solving appraisal) and promotive (problem-solving support) effects on PTSS for both partners. These results emphasize 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. This finding suggests that investing in support for the well-being of military spouses, with a specific focus on developing spouses’ psychological resources, may be an effective means to bolster well-being within the larger military family system