Mental health symptoms and the reintegration difficulty of military couples following deployment: A longitudinal application of the relational turbulence model

Objective: Understanding the factors that predict the reintegration difficulty of military couples during the postdeployment transition has important implications for theory, research, and practice. Building on the logic of the relational turbulence model, this paper evaluates the relationship processes of reunion uncertainty and reintegration interference from a partner as mediators of the connection between people's mental health symptoms and their difficulty with reintegration after deployment. Method: Dyadic longitudinal data were collected from 555 US military couples once per month for 8 consecutive months. Results: Findings mapped the trajectory of reintegration difficulty and suggested reunion uncertainty and reintegration interference from a partner as mediators of the link between people's depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms and the magnitude of their reintegration difficulty. Conclusion: These results highlight relationship processes as a key domain of intervention to preserve the well-being of military couples during the postdeployment transition.