Deployment-related stress and resilience of families of National Guard soldiers

This study was developed to identify patterns of stress, coping, and resilience across the deployment cycle for National Guard families with a deployed soldier. Participants were recruited both directly from National Guard sponsored events at each deployment phase, and indirectly, through and Illinois National Guard family email listsery updates. The family members of soldiers from two different National Guard units (who had a dependent child between the ages of 0-18 years-old) were recruited to participate. Participants completed online surveys at three different points over the deployment cycle, providing information on: perceived stress, family resilience and the impact of stress upon family functioning, parenting stress, relationship stress, use and availability of different coping resources, and perceived social support.;One hundred two internet survey batteries were completed by 50 participants across the three different data collection time periods. Twenty participants completed a survey at each deployment phase and allowed for some of the proposed longitudinal analyses to be conducted, though the small sample size presented some challenges for some analyses and also in the interpretation of the analyses. At each deployment phase, participants' ratings indicated that they perceived family roles as unhealthy or problematic. Though not statistically significant, there were minor yet consistent trends in the data indicating slight decreases in protective factors (e.g., social support) and slight increases in risk factors (e.g., parenting stress) over time and across the deployment cycle. Hierarchical cluster analyses revealed the presence of two participant clusters/subgroups: Resilient and Vulnerable. Social support was identified as a significant moderator of demands upon family functioning. As capabilities increased at earlier phases, there was a significant correlation with a decrease in levels of demands and also an increase in positive individual and family adjustment.;Study limitations, suggestions for future research, and implications upon National Guard members are discussed at length.