Development of a multilevel prevention program for improved relationship functioning in active duty military members

Area of Science:

• Military Psychology
• Family Studies
• Relationship Science

Background:

• Military deployments and high operational tempo significantly strain relationships and families of active duty (AD) service members.
• Existing prevention programs for parenting issues lack a parallel for couple relationship problems.
• There is a need for accessible, evidence-based resources to support military families' relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a multilevel approach for preventing relationship problems among active duty service members.
• To identify key relationship topics of interest to active duty personnel.
• To create and assess the utility of information/action planning sheets for military couples.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted with U.S. Air Force Security Forces members.
• Study 1: Elicited high-interest relationship topics from the target population.
• Study 2: Developed and gathered feedback on prevention information/action planning sheets from AD members.

Main Results:

• In Study 1, 70%-95% of participants reported being underserved by current prevention offerings for their desired information.
• AD members in Study 2 found the developed information sheets moderately to very useful, well-presented, and comprehensive.
• The developed sheets addressed 18 key relationship issues identified in Study 1.

Conclusions:

• A multilevel approach, including information sheets, can effectively address underserved relationship needs in military populations.
• The developed information/action planning sheets show promise as a dissemination vector for evidence-based relationship information.
• Further research and development are warranted to refine and expand this approach for military families.