Date of Conferral

2015

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Kimberley Cox

Abstract

Over 1.5 million U.S. soldiers have deployed oversees since the beginning of the War on Terror in 2001; consequently, spouses are faced with new physical, emotional, and psychological challenges. Many researchers have documented the effects of deployment on marriages and families. However, few researchers have explored the correlates of trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction for wives during deployment. This quantitative study, grounded in risk and resilience theory and interdependence theory, used a web-based survey to investigate the relationship between perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction in a sample of 127 military wives whose husbands were deployed oversees. The 'Events with Others' questionnaire, Dyadic Trust Scale, Commitment Inventory Revised, Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale were used. Results indicated that length of deployment did not have a statistically significant impact on marital satisfaction. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated statistically significant relationships among wives' perceived likelihood of spousal infidelity, trust, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction. After controlling for wives' attachment style, marital commitment and trust were significant explanatory variables of marital satisfaction. The findings from this study can inform establishing effective programs to support military marriages during deployment. Such programs will promote social change by improving satisfaction, decreasing relationship conflicts, and reducing the rate of divorce. The Armed Forces may benefit from the results of this study by addressing marital commitment and trust issues prior to deployment, thereby supporting wives, husbands, and children during deployment.

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