The Effects of Deployments on Alcohol Use, Stress, Mental Health, and Help-Seeking Behaviors in Military Spouses

Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom have kept the United States military engaged in one of the longest wars in the nation’s history. Due to the high operations tempo during that time, both service members and their spouses have endured enormous difficulties as they learned to navigate the challenges brought forth by frequent deployments. The purpose of this research study was to study the alcohol consumption, mental health, stress, and help seeking behaviors of military spouses who have endured deployments, with the hypothesis that alcohol use will not increase during deployment, military spouses will report poorer mental health and increased stress during deployment, and military spouses who have endured deployment will utilize appropriate mental health resources. This quantitative study collected data via web-based survey from 293 military spouses from various branches of the military. A chi-square test for independence was used to investigate the categorical variables. Results of the study determined there were statistically significant associations to be found between current deployment and alcohol consumption as well as an association between deployments and stress. Implications and limitations are also discussed, as well as implications for future research