Summary :
In the past decade, U.S. military families have experienced increased deployment tempo as U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have been deployed to hostile territory for extended and repeated durations. Therefore, policymakers and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) leadership have placed an emphasis on family readiness for deployment and other military-related stressors. However, family readiness is not a well-understood construct. In March 2009, the U.S. Army Surgeon General asked the RAND Corporation to design and conduct a longitudinal study of Army families to examine family readiness. The study would survey families at frequent intervals throughout a complete deployment cycle—that is, before a service member deploys (sometimes months before), during the actual deployment, and after the service member returns (possibly a year or more after he or she has redeployed). It would assess outcomes over time, including the following: • the emotional, behavioral, and physical health of family members • the quality of marital and parental relationships • child well-being (e.g., school performance, social development) • career outcomes (e.g., attitudes toward military service, retention intentions) • family financial well-being. In August 2009, the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) asked RAND to expand the study to include the other services: Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. This combined effort, called the Deployment Life Study, uses a single design and the same survey instruments (modified only slightly to make them service and component appropriate), thus allowing for potential comparisons across services and components (active and reserve). Broadly, the Deployment Life Study is designed to address several policy questions. First, how are deployments associated with family well-being and overall functioning? Second, what family- and individual-level factors can account for both positive and negative adaptation to deployment (i.e., what constitutes family readiness)? And third, what policies and programs can DoD develop to help families navigate the stress associated with deployment? This report details the theoretical model that informed the design of the Deployment Life Study, the content of the baseline assessment, the design and procedures associated with data collection, and sampling and recruiting procedures and provides a brief description of the baseline sample of military families. This report will be of interest to policy and program officials working on issues related to deployment cycle support and military family programming.

Copies :