Military Reintegration: Has Spouse Gender Been Overlooked?

Following deployment – whether for a combat, peacekeeping, training, or relief mission – service members begin the process of reintegration as they return home to their spouses and reenter daily life. Despite changing demographics in the military, the understanding of this adjustment period has largely centered on families with male service members and their female spouses. In a recent study, Factors Influencing Postdeployment Reintegration Adjustment for U.S. Service Members and Their Spouses by Spouse Gender, led by Westat experts Amanda Hare, PhD, Breanna Wakar, MA, and Jeffrey Scanlon, MS, researchers examined how gender influences this adjustment period for service members and their spouses.

The research suggests that some risk and protective factors predict similar adjustment times for all service members and their spouses, regardless of gender. However, other factors provide significantly more protection when the service member is male and the spouse is female, compared to families where the service member is female, and the spouse is male. The results demonstrate the importance of tailored military family support programs addressing the needs of different populations of military families.

This study was conducted in partnership with Abt and the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) as part of NHRC’s Millennium Cohort Family Study. The Family Study is the only Department of Defense (DoD)-wide, long-term study of military spouses and children, as well as the only DoD-representative study of health and relationship well-being among military families. The findings from the Family Study inform leadership and policy and guide the development of interventions and support programs that positively impact military families.