Psychological and relational health profiles of soldiers in committed romantic relationships

• Main Authors: Fuss, C. (Author), Gnagi, T. (Author), Nelson Goff, B.S (Author), Novak, J.R (Author), Ruhlmann, L.M (Author), Schiferl, M. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Psychological Association Inc. 2018
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; adult; Adult; Afghan Campaign 2001-; Anxiety; anxiety disorder; Anxiety Disorders; coping behavior; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major; female; Female; happiness; Happiness; human; human relation; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Latent profile analysis; love; Love; major depression; male; Male; middle aged; Middle Aged; Military Personnel; posttraumatic stress disorder; psychologic test; psychological resilience; Psychological Tests; psychology; Psychometrics; psychometry; Resilience, Psychological; Romantic relationship; soldier; Soldiers; statistics and numerical data; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; war; young adult; Young Adult
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 The present study explored the heterogeneity of military service members' psychological and relational functioning using a sample of 7,866 soldiers in committed romantic relationships from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify and predict unique clusters of soldiers' relative psychological (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety symptom severity) and relational (i.e., relationship happiness, how often their relationship was going well, how often they confided in their partner, how often they considered or discussed ending their relationship, relational insecurity, and relational turbulence) functioning. Results revealed 4 distinct classes of comparative psychological and relational health: hardy soldiers and healthy relaters (70.2%), stressed soldiers but healthy relaters (13.1%), hardy soldiers but strained relaters (12.7%), and stressed soldiers and strained relaters (4.0%). Class descriptions, as well as implications for theory and clinical practice are reviewed. Notably, 7 out of 10 soldiers in this nationally representative sample reported little to no psychological or relational distress. These findings invite more adaptive narratives of service member resilience and a more nuanced conceptualization of gradations in psychological and relational functioning. © 2018 American Psychological Association.