Date of Award

2005

Publication Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Psychology

Keywords

Psychology, Clinical.

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the stress levels and coping skills of families of Canadian Forces (CF) soldiers who have served on overseas "tours" that were at least six months in duration. Twenty-six families were recruited from three military units in Eastern Canada. The mother or wife in the family completed a set of eight standardized measures and one questionnaire designed by the author. The measures utilized were: (a) Demographic Questionnaire, (b) Family Hardiness Index (FHI; McCubbin, McCubbin & Thompson, 1987), (c) Family Stress and Support Inventory (FSSI, Halvorsen, 1991), (d) Family Crisis-Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale (F-COPES; McCubbin, Olsen & Larsen, 1987),(e) Social Support Index (SSI; McCubbin, Patterson & Glynn, 1987), (f) Survey of Recent Life Events (SRLE; Kohn & MacDonald, 1992), (g) Family Inventory of Life Events (FILE; McCubbin, Patterson & Wilson, 1979), (h) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein, 1983), and (i) Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI, Derogatis, 1992). The hypotheses were: (1) younger families (with both parents under 35 years of age) would report higher levels of stress, appraised stress, and stress related symptoms but lower levels of hardiness, social support and other coping resources, than families with both parents 35 years of age and older; (2) families who have experienced a deployment less than three years ago (recent) would report higher levels of stress, appraised stress, and stress-related symptoms but lower levels of hardiness, social support and other coping resources than families whose experience with deployment was greater than three years ago (remote); and (3) families having experienced multiple deployments would report more stressors, more stress-related symptoms and appraise themselves as more stressed than those having experienced a single deployment, but would report fewer internal coping resources and less social support than families who have experienced a single deployment. Results indicated that younger families were significantly more likely to acquire social support than older families. Families who had experienced a recent deployment reported significantly less family generated stress than families who had experienced a remote deployment. No significant differences existed between families who had experienced a single deployment and those experiencing multiple deployments. Finally, families of Junior rank soldiers reported significantly more family generated stress than families of Senior ranks. Additional correlational and cluster analysis findings are discussed and recommendations for reducing stress and facilitating coping are made.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2004 .W35. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-07, Section: B, page: 3963. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2005.

Download

Share

COinS