TITLE:
Family Cohesion and Relationship Quality in Defence Force Families: Rapid Review
AUTHORS:
Jennifer E. McIntosh, Felicity Painter, Jessica Opie, Mohajer Hameed, An Vuong, Rowan Dowling, Jessica Boh, Natalie McLean, Heng Jiang, Anna Booth
KEYWORDS:
Military, Family, Couple, Cohesion, Relationship, Health Outcomes, Mental Health, Rapid Review
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.11 No.3,
March
13,
2023
ABSTRACT: Objective: Retention of serving members in the military may be increased through
targeted psycho-social support of their families and dependents. This Defence funded study aimed to provide updated
evidence on associations between current military service and the well-being of
the member’s couple and relationships, to inform policy and practice. We
conducted a rapid review of family
and couple relationship qualities, comparing current serving samples with
civilian, never-serving families. Method: We followed the Cochrane Rapid
Review Method, searching publications from 2000. Outcomes were limited to
modifiable factors of importance for policy related decision-making. Results: Four search strategies were constructed in Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL and
Cochrane CENTRAL. The review, in two parts, identified over 15,000 articles, of
which only seven met the review criteria. The dearth of research identified
reflected predominant focus on veteran rather than currently serving samples,
and absence of comparison to a civilian group. We therefore also examined
individual studies that closely approximated the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: The collated evidence offered four main findings: 1) A
significant decrease in marital satisfaction for men and women with progressing
stages of deployment; 2) Consistently higher prevalence of intimate partner violence for
military versus civilian samples, growing with length of deployment, and
mediated by histories childhood abuse or neglect; 3)
Increased risk of psychological distress and problematic alcohol use by spouses
of serving members, and 4) Barriers to engagement in therapeutic programs for military couples.
Practice implications for screening and policy implications for targeted
prevention efforts are discussed.