title: Military Deployments and Mental Health Utilization Among Spouses of Active Duty Service Members.
abstract: Since the onset of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan attention has increased on the importance of mental health with military service members. An integral component, although far less studied, are the ties between mental health and military spouses. Military deployments place considerable stress on military families. This study analyzed the mental health utilization of military spouses of active duty service members assigned to an aircraft carrier between 2011 and 2014. A negative binomial generalized estimating equation was used to examine the rate of change in mental health utilization over time against various deployment phases. Associations emerged between select deployment phases (i.e., deployment 1, between deployments, deployment 2) with increases in mental health utilization ranging between 12% and 20% for military spouses. This study demonstrated, for military spouses, the in between deployment phase has associations with mental health utilization rates similar to actual deployed periods. As a result, military leaders should continue to monitor the well-being of their service members' families throughout all deployment phases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.
authors.forename: Todd C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Leroux
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Texas A&M University School of Public Health, 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843.
authors.forename: Hye-Chung
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kum
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Texas A&M University, 3143 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dabney
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health, The University of Texas School of Public Health, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D066067:Military Family / Q000523:psychology; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014857:Warfare