Psychological distress with relationship satisfaction is moderated by anticipatory relational savoring among non-deployed military partners
Research Report:
Research SummaryAPA Citation:
Froidevaux, N. M., Sanchez Hernandez, H., Pourmand, V., Yunusova, A., Sbarra, D. A., & Borelli, J. L. (2023). Psychological distress with relationship satisfaction is moderated by anticipatory relational savoring among non-deployed military partners. Personal Relationships, 30(2), 636-659. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pere.12469
Abstract Created by REACH:
Anticipatory relational savoring is an emotion regulation strategy in which a person focuses on and sits with either memories or imagined future positive moments of closeness with their partner. Guided by attachment theory, this longitudinal study examined whether anticipatory relational savoring buffered the relationship between civilian partners’ psychological distress (e.g., stress, loneliness) and relationship satisfaction during deployment. Data were collected from 73 civilian partners of Service members 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after their Service members deployed. Partners also reported on demographics, deployment characteristics, and interpersonal characteristics (e.g., social support). For partners who engaged in average to high levels of anticipatory relational savoring, psychological distress did not seem to impact their perceptions of relationship satisfaction.
Focus:
Couples
Mental health
Deployment
Branch of Service:
Multiple branches
Military Affiliation:
Active Duty
Subject Affiliation:
Spouse of service member or veteran
Population:
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Methodology:
Quantitative Study
Authors:
Froidevaux, Nicole M., Sanchez Hernandez, Hugo, Pourmand, Vida, Yunusova, Asal, Sbarra, David A., Borelli, Jessica L.
Abstract:
This study recruited participants whose partners were deployed for active-duty military service to examine whether anticipatory relational savoring moderated the association of psychological distress with relationship satisfaction. Two weeks prior to their partner's deployment (T1), participants (N = 73) completed a self-report measure of relationship satisfaction. Then, 2 weeks into their partner's deployment (T2), participants completed self-report measures of stress, loneliness, and depression (combined into a composite index of psychological distress), and relationship satisfaction. Participants also completed a stream-of-consciousness task at T2 in which they imagined and discussed their partner's return from deployment. We coded the stream-of-consciousness task for anticipatory relational savoring regarding their upcoming reunion with their deployed partner. We found that anticipatory relational savoring moderated the association of psychological distress with during-deployment relationship satisfaction after adjusting for demographics, interpersonal variables, and deployment-specific variables; the association did not hold after adjusting for pre-deployment relationship satisfaction, and thus was robust when considering the distress-satisfaction association during the deployment but was not when considering changes in relationship satisfaction from pre- to during-deployment. We discuss the potential importance of anticipatory relational savoring for this unique population.
Publication Type:
Article
REACH Publication
Keywords:
mental health, deployment, marital satisfaction, attachment, relational savoring
REACH Publication Type:
Research Summary
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