A new study looks at the relationship between romantic partners when one returns from military deployment - and the findings show the reunion can be more stressful than the deployment.
According to the study, returning servicemembers often mistakenly attribute their post-deployment stress and depression to their romantic partners, instead of to the real cause of their symptoms: the deployment.
University of Illinois communications professor Leanne Knobloch and Jennifer Theiss of Rutgers University conducted the study. Their research came from an online survey of 220 servicemembers in 27 states.
Knobloch says of the study:
"[Servicemembers and their partners] can be disillusioned if they run into obstacles. [But it's important to] recognize that it’s a normal part of the process, that many couples go through it and it doesn’t mean your relationship is not good. Depression is a really hard thing, and if people can separate their relationship problems from the depression itself, then they’re a step ahead."
The study appears in the Journal of Family Psychology.
