An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Feb. 1, 2010

Study shows deployments' impact on Army wives

By Elaine Wilson American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON - Army wives whose husbands deploy seek mental health services at a higher rate than others, and the longer the deployment, the greater the impact, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, RTI International and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted the study, which was published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Study investigators compared the rates of mental health diagnoses and use of mental health services between wives whose husbands had deployed with those whose husbands hadn't deployed, using a sampling of about 250,000 active-duty Army wives, ages 18 to 48.

"We found a distinct pattern," said Army Col. (Dr.) Charles Engel, a study co-investigator and associate chair of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "The wives of servicemembers who deployed ... used more services when they had a diagnosis and more frequently received mental health diagnoses than those wives whose husbands didn't deploy."

The wives also were categorized by the total length of their spouses' deployments. Investigators compared wives whose spouses hadn't deployed, those who had deployed for less than a year and those who had deployed for more than a year. "The longer the husband had been deployed, the more we saw an excess of disorders," Engel noted.

The mental health diagnoses that were elevated were, for the most part, those related to stress, Engel explained, such as depression, anxiety and adjustment disorders. Investigators also found an increase in alcohol use. They didn't, however, find an excess of post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The stress of deployment [for spouses] really isn't the same as the kind of stress that causes PTSD," Engel said. Rather than the types of traumatic events that trigger post-traumatic stress, wives encounter stressors such as overwhelming demands at home and the uncertainty of having a loved one deployed, he explained.

The study used anonymous data from a military health system database, which captures care from the military health system and through Tricare military health care program networks.

"It was a very important use of the health tracking systems at our disposal in the military," Engel said. "These systems increasingly put us in a position to be able to look, in ways the civilian sector really just can't, at the health impact of various things."

But use of the database limited the study to active-duty wives, Engel acknowledged. "One of the limitations of the findings is that we weren't able to include National Guard or Reserve wives; we can't be sure their health care is captured by the military system when their husband is demobilized," he said. "They may be getting care from other sources primarily."

The study also restricted its analysis to spouses whose husbands had been in active-duty service for a minimum of five years, Engel said, to ensure they captured a history of active health service use and mental health background.

The net effect of that, Engel pointed out, was an older sampling of wives who may be better equipped at coping with military life. Since younger wives may be more vulnerable to the stressors of military life in general, the findings may underestimate the impact of deployments, he added.

"We say at the end, the differences we see between these two groups, if you were to include all wives, would probably be greater," he said. "This is a conservative estimate of the ... impact of deployment on the mental health of these wives."

Limitations aside, the study reaped results that can be used as an impetus for change, Engel said. Experts know anecdotally that deployments have an impact on military families, but real findings help provide the thrust to change and improve support programs, he added.

"We assume [deployment] has an impact, but in some fashion we don't really know, until we have a chance to see it in terms of real findings from a scientific study," he said.

Engel noted that he found one aspect of the findings reassuring: Army spouses are taking advantage of available mental health services.

"We now have some fairly definitive scientific data to demonstrate that the wives of soldiers who deploy have some special needs," he said. "This is bound to lead to greater discussion of what those needs are and new programs to meet those needs. And that can only be a positive thing."

While this study was limited to the Army, future studies are sure to look at deployments' impacts on spouses from other services, Engel said.

"Our group and other groups will want to analyze these data in ways that bring in the other services, particularly ... the Marine Corps," he said. "There's every reason to think that the wives of Marines may be experiencing similar kinds of challenges."

 

 

Related Articles
A U.S. Air Force aircrew flight equipment specialist participates in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) decontamination training during exercise Toxic Peach at the 165th Airlift Wing, Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia, April 29, 2025. Hosted by the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th Airlift Wing, exercise Toxic Peach 2025 readied approximately 150 joint service military members to complete large-scale CBRN decontamination of aircrews in a simulated austere environment.
Georgia's 165th Airlift Wing Hosts Response Exercise TOXIC PEACH 2025
By Senior Airman Victoria Coursey, | May 6, 2025
SAVANNAH, Ga. — About 150 joint service military members, including Airmen and Soldiers from more than 36 different units and seven major commands, recently conducted exercise Toxic Peach.  The April 28–May 2 exercise at the...

A Vietnam veteran renders a salute from his wheelchair as he passes through the honor corridor at the Medford Airport, Medford, Ore., May 4, 2025. Oregon Army National Guard soldiers and Patriot Guard Riders formed the corridor to welcome veterans returning from an Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C., where they visited military memorials honoring their service.
Oregon National Guard Soldiers Welcome Veterans Home from Honor Flight
By Maj. Wayne Clyne, | May 6, 2025
MEDFORD, Ore. – Soldiers from the Oregon Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry Regiment formed up at the Medford Airport on May 4 to welcome home veterans returning from an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. The...

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Rafaela Laguillo, a radio transmissions journeyman with the 156th Combat Communications Squadron, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, sets-up a GATOR ball antenna during a Full Operating Capability (FOC) evaluation at Punta Salinas Air National Guard Station, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, April 24, 2025. A team of approximately 25 Airmen assigned to the 156th CBCS was evaluated on their level of proficiency in providing NIPR, SIPR, and VOIP services in an expeditionary setting as part of the FOC certification process.
Puerto Rico Air Guard Tests Flexible Communications in Evaluation
By Senior Airman Victoria Jewett, | May 6, 2025
PUNTA SALINAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Puerto Rico — U.S. Airmen assigned to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard’s 156th Combat Communications Squadron deployed two Flexible Communication Packages as part of their Full...