Deployment and family functioning: A literature review of US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq

Abstract

The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have led to historically high rates of military deployment for the United States. The increased deployment tempo of the current conflicts necessitates a closer look at the literature on the impact of deployment on families specific to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). In this article, we review the qualitative and quantitative literature on the impact of OEF and OIF deployment on families. The review included 38 articles organized into four major areas: (1) Family Changes and Transitions, (2) Child Maltreatment, (3) Spouse Stress and Mental Health, and (4) Marital Relationship Quality. Results of this review are discussed in terms of the need for additional research on individual differences between families and greater emphasis on how deployment impacts the well-being of spouses. We conclude with a discussion of limitations.

Keywords:

• military family
• deployment
• transitions
• child maltreatment
• stress
• mental health
• marriage

Notes

1. The operationalizations of deployment among articles in this review were highly varied (see Limitations for a discussion). In order to obtain as many relevant articles as possible for this review, deployment as an inclusion criterion was defined broadly in terms of the articles that we reviewed. Articles that stated to examine ‘deployment’ to either of the current operations were deemed eligible for inclusion.