title: Family Resilience in the Military: Definitions, Models, and Policies.
abstract: Military life presents a variety of challenges to military families, including frequent separations and relocations as well as the risks that service members face during deployment; however, many families successfully navigate these challenges. Despite a recent emphasis on family resilience, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) does not have a standard and universally accepted definition of family resilience. A standard definition is a necessary for DoD to more effectively assess its efforts to sustain and improve family resilience. RAND authors reviewed the literature on family resilience and, in this study, recommend a definition that could be used DoD-wide. The authors also reviewed DoD policies related to family resilience, reviewed models that describe family resilience and identified key family resilience factors, and developed several recommendations for how family-resilience programs and policies could be managed across DoD.
authors.forename: Sarah O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Meadows
authors.forename: Megan K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Beckett
authors.forename: Kirby
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bowling
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Golinelli
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Laurie T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Lisa S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Meredith
authors.forename: Karen Chan
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Osilla