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Objective. Military spouses face unique challenges which can result in psychological distress
and breakdowns in relationship satisfaction. Previous reviews have considered systemic
interventions and support for partners of veterans. Limited information is known about
interventions used to support the wellbeing, resilience or couple functioning of active-duty
military spouses. This review aimed to explore the quality, outcomes and effectiveness of
interventions which currently exist. Method. A systematic review of 541 studies from the
databases Ovid PsycInfo, Ovid Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science was conducted.
Interventions focused on supporting mental health disorders were excluded. A total of 537
studies were screened, providing 16 studies for review and appraisal via the Effective Public
Health Practice Project tool. Results. 16 studies, rated as weak or medium quality, evaluated
13 interventions with outcomes for non-serving spouses, mostly located in the United States
(US). Interventions were either deployment specific or supported military life in general
using diverse formats. Most studies reported outcomes for couple functioning, with six aimed
at wellbeing and/or resilience. Two interventions were designed specifically for use by non serving spouses, with the remainder couple- or family-focused. Conclusion. Findings suggest
various interventions for the military spouse exist. However, these mostly require additional
family members to be present. Only two interventions were primarily aimed at the non serving spouse alone. Overall findings suggest positive outcomes for non-serving spouses in
the short-term, with limited evidence of long-term effectiveness. Suggestions are provided for
further research, alongside development of interventions for non-serving spouses located
within the United Kingdom (UK). |
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