Military families face a number of stressors throughout the course of a military career with frequent moves, deployments, and the hazards of combat (Bowles et al., 2015). With the war in Ukraine and tensions building in this region of the world, there is an environment of uncertainty, the question of what can improve well-being in military community becomes markedly salient. Military spouses are a critical resource for service members. For our research, to gain insight into improving military spouse’s emotional well-being, areas of individual traits and external sources were examined.
Our preliminary findings indicate that individual traits in mindfulness (ability to be present and self-awareness) and resiliency skills (perception of self, planned future, social competence, structured style, and social resources) were found to be positively correlated to emotional well-being. Furthermore, a significant positive relationship emerged in utilizing the internal and externalizing forms of instrumental social support (i.e. support when tense, feeling depressed, feeling upset, support that truly cares, having dependable help, and total acceptance) and emotional well-being. These findings are consistent with prior research on emotional wellbeing (Carruthers & Hood, 2011; Mallonee et al., 2020; Mayodomo et al, 2016).
Based on these findings, education and/or training for military spouses in the above identified areas of resilience and mindfulness may be utilized to aid military spouses during the service member’s deployment, organizing family moves and other stressful events. Furthermore, the extended family and military support organizations, veteran service organizations and community at large can develop support to military spouses in the maintenance and improvement of spouse’s well-being.