Moving military families: The impact of relocation on family well-being, employment, and commitment to the military
- Burrell, L. M. (2006). Moving military families: The impact of relocation on family well-being, employment, and commitment to the military. In C. A. Castro, A. B. Adler, & T. W. Britt (Eds.), Military life: The psychology of serving in peace and combat: The military family., Vol. 3. (pp. 39–63). Westport, CT: Praeger Security International.
- The effects of each move a military family makes may be subtle or obvious, short-term or long-term, independent of one another or intricately linked together. While moving may directly affect family adaptation, the effects will likely be moderated by several individual- and family-related factors. Unfortunately the literature on military families is lacking in its testing of various models that may explain the relationship between moving and adaptation. Factors that may moderate the moving and adaptation relationship are personality, family composition, individual and family coping strategies, and prior moving experience. Each of these potential moderators is discussed in this chapter. The focus of this chapter will primarily be on civilian spouses of service members as opposed to the service member, dual-military spouses (see Kelley, this volume), children (see Ender, this volume), or the single soldier. Soldiers with families may be more likely to experience problems adjusting to a move than single soldiers (Marsh, 1976). Single service members are generally concerned with their own needs and feelings while those with families are generally concerned with the needs and feelings of both themselves and the other family members. It is, for example, quite possible that the service member and the family may experience conflicts regarding the move, and these conflicts will compound adjustment difficulties. The emphasis on family adjustment is consistent with the social science literature, which has also focused on the impact of moving on military spouses. Following a review of how military spouses may be affected by moving, individual and family factors that may moderate the impact of the stress of moving are also discussed. Finally, this chapter examines the implications of the research on relocation in the military and future research directions for gaining a better understanding of the impact of moving on the family.
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