Gillian Blakely
Catherine Hennessy
Man C. Chung
Heather Skirton

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Health psychology research

Publication Date

8-26-2014

Abstract

As part of an ethnographic study, the impact of foreign postings on spouses who accompany military personnel was explored. Individual interviews and focus groups with 34 British military spouses based in one location in southern Europe were conducted. Key findings suggested that reaction to a foreign posting was a reflection of personal attitudes, prior experiences, support, ability to adjust to change and strength of relationship with the serving spouse and community. For many the experience was positive due to the increased opportunity for family time, for others this helped to compensate for the difficulties experienced. Some military spouses experienced significant distress on the posting, particularly if the family was not well-supported. The potential implications of military spouses not adapting to foreign postings have significant implications for healthcare practice. Provision of more appropriate support resources before and during the posting would facilitate the transition for the military spouse and their family.

ISSN

2420-8124

Publisher

PAGEPress Publications

Volume

2

First Page

1468

Last Page

1468

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

health professionals, international relocation, overseas, spouses, wellbeing

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series

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