Elizabeth S. Allen

Altering the course of marriage: The effect of PREP communication skills acquisition on couples' risk of becoming maritally distressed.

This longitudinal study predicted marital outcome from communication skills gained from participation in the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP; H. J. Markman, S. L. Blumberg & S. M. Stanley, 1989; Stanley et al., 2001) by 39 women and 38 men. Results were in the expected direction for men but not for women. Mens pre- to posttest decrease in negative communication and increase in positive communication predicted decreased risk of marital distress onset in men. Womens pre- to posttest increase in positive communication, which was related to self-reported avoidance of problem solving, predicted an increased risk of male and female distress onset. Couples with men relatively high on premarital risk factors demonstrated a greater benefit from mens positive communication skills acquisition.

Decreasing Divorce in Army Couples: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial using PREP for Strong Bonds

Findings from a large, randomized controlled trial of couple education are presented in this brief report. Married U.S. Army couples were assigned to either PREP for Strong Bonds (n = 248) delivered by U.S. Army chaplains or to a no-treatment control group (n = 228). One year after the intervention, couples who received PREP for Strong Bonds had one-third the rate of divorce of the control group. Specifically, 6.20% of the control group divorced, while 2.03% of the intervention group divorced. These findings suggest that couple education can reduce the risk of divorce, at least in the short run with military couples.

On the home front: stress for recently deployed Army couples.

Military couples who have experienced deployment and reintegration in current U.S. military operations frequently experience stress regarding the dangers and effects of such experiences. The current study evaluated a sample of 300 couples with an active duty Army husband and civilian spouse who experienced a deployment within the year before the survey (conducted in 2007). Wives generally reported greater levels of emotional stress compared with husbands. Overall, higher levels of stress were found for couples who reported lower income and greater economic strain, perceive the need for more support and are unsure about how to get support, have more marital conflict, and are generally less satisfied with the Army and the current mission. Husband combat exposure was also associated with more stress for husbands and wives. Additionally, for wives, stress was related to greater child behavior problems and a sense of less Army concern for families. The results suggest areas of intervention with military couples to help them cope with the challenges of military life and deployment.

Relationships Between Soldiers' PTSD Symptoms and Spousal Communication During Deployment

Social support, including support from spouses, may buffer against posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The current study assessed whether the frequency of spousal communication during a recent deployment, a potentially important source of support for soldiers, was related to postdeployment PTSD symptoms. Data came from 193 married male Army soldiers who returned from military deployment within the past year. For communication modalities conceptualized as delayed (i.e., letters, care packages, and e-mails), greater spousal communication frequency during deployment was associated with lower postdeployment PTSD symptom scores, but only at higher levels of marital satisfaction (p = .009). At lower marital satisfaction, more delayed spousal communication during deployment was associated with more PTSD symptoms (p = .042). For communication modalities conceptualized as interactive (i.e., phone calls, instant messaging, instant messaging with video), the same general direction of effects was seen, but the interaction between communication frequency and marital satisfaction predicting PTSD symptoms did not reach significance.

Dating, marital, and hypothetical extradyadic involvements: how do they compare?

Patterns of extradyadic involvement (EDI) were assessed for 3 samples: an undergraduate dating sample and a community marital sample reporting on an actual experience of EDI, and an undergraduate sample which denied recent EDI and was asked to imagine a hypothetical EDI experience. Good consistency of responses within and between measures was found for the hypothetical EDI sample. Persons reporting on a hypothetical EDI were generally less approving of EDI and imagined that they would experience higher levels of primary relationship satisfaction, overall remorse, and specific types of distress, particularly in comparison to the dating EDI group. Relative to the dating EDI group, the marital EDI group recalled greater dissonance with the EDI behavior, more concern about disapproval from others, and higher levels of intimacy, self‐esteem, and love reasons for the EDI. No differences were found among the groups on the level of emotional closeness with the extradyadic partner.

The Association of Divorce and Extramarital Sex in a Representative U.S. Sample

Few studies provide specific rates of marital divorce or separation in association with a history of infidelity. Research based primarily from clinical or help-seeking populations suggests that most couples who have experienced infidelity do not divorce within the time frames assessed. Using self-reported history of extramarital sex (EMS), divorce, and separation data from 16,090 individuals assessed between 1991 and 2008 as part of the General Social Survey (GSS), the authors found that, relative to married (and never divorced) individuals, a history of EMS raised the likelihood of being currently divorced but remarried (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6), divorced and not remarried (OR = 4.1), and separated (OR = 5.8). While there are interpretive limitations, the data from the GSS suggest that more than half of men and women who engage in EMS also separate or divorce from their spouse. Results are discussed in terms of methodological differences among studies as well as clinical implications.

The effects of marriage education for army couples with a history of infidelity.

While existing literature has begun to explore risk factors which may predict differential response to marriage education, a history of couple infidelity has not been examined to determine whether infidelity moderates the impacts of marriage education. The current study evaluated self-report marital satisfaction and communication skills in a sample of 662 married Army couples randomly assigned to marriage education (i.e., PREP) or a no-treatment control group and assessed prior to intervention, post intervention, and at 1 year after intervention. Of these, 23.4% couples reported a history of infidelity in their marriage. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that having a history of infidelity significantly moderated the impact of PREP for marital satisfaction, with a trend for a similar effect on communication skills. However, couples with a history of infidelity assigned to PREP did not reach the same levels of marital satisfaction after intervention seen in the group of couples without infidelity assigned to PREP, although they did show comparable scores on communication skills after intervention. Implications of these findings for relationship education with couples with a history of infidelity are discussed.

Marriage Education in the Army: Results of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Although earlier studies have demonstrated promising effects of relationship education for military couples, these studies have lacked random assignment. The current study evaluated the short-term effects of relationship education for Army couples in a randomized clinical trial at two sites (476 couples at Site 1 and 184 couples at Site 2). At both sites, participant satisfaction with the program was high. Intervention and control couples were compared on relative amounts of preintervention to postintervention change. At Site 1, not all variables showed the predicted intervention effects, although we found significant and positive intervention effects for communication skills, confidence that the marriage can survive over the long haul, positive bonding between the partners, and satisfaction with sacrificing for the marriage or the partner. However, at Site 2, we found significant and positive intervention effects for communication skills only. Possible site differences as moderators of intervention effects are discussed.

Veteran Status, Extramarital Sex, and Divorce Findings From the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey

Despite perceptions that infidelity is common among military and veteran populations, there is relatively little evidence documenting the prevalence of extramarital sex among persons with a history of military service or its consequences for marital stability. Using data from the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey, we estimate multivariate logistic regression models to examine the associations between veteran status, extramarital sex, and divorce among ever-married persons aged 18 to 60 years. We also conduct supplemental analyses of gender differences. We find that 32.17% of veterans report extramarital sexual relationships, which is twice the rate among nonveterans in this sample. Controlling for sociodemographic and early-life factors, veterans are significantly more likely than nonveterans to report extramarital sex and to have ever divorced, whereas extramarital sex has a strong, independent association with divorce. We conclude that veteran status is strongly associated with extramarital sex and divorce, at least among men; extramarital sex and divorce might also be elevated among female veterans, but research that uses larger, representative samples of female veterans is needed to confirm those associations. The higher rates of infidelity among veterans may be related to selection factors; military experiences, such as deployment; or postmilitary factors. The current research provides a foundation for further research that aims to explicate the mechanisms underlying this association.

Distraction during Deployment: Marital Relationship Associations with Spillover for Deployed Army Soldiers

Military spouses often have concerns regarding the impact of their communication on soldiers during deployment. However, literature is mixed regarding how communication between soldiers and spouses may impact soldiers’ self-reported work functioning during deployment, suggesting the need to evaluate moderating factors. In the current study, 3 relationship factors (marital satisfaction, conflictual communication, and proportion of conversation focused on problems) were tested as moderators of communication frequency and negative marriage-to-work spillover for soldiers. Whereas the 3 relationship factors were independently related to negative spillover, none significantly moderated the relationship between communication frequency and spillover. The overall pattern of results suggests that (a) lower marital satisfaction, a focus on problems during communication, and conflictual communication are each strongly linked to spillover for deployed soldiers; and (b) military couples may be self-restricting deployment communication frequency when experiencing less marital satisfaction and higher rates of negative communication. Implications for communication during deployment are discussed.