Communication Mediators of the Link Between Depressive Symptoms and Relationship Satisfaction Among Army Soldiers

• Published date: 01 April 2021
• Author: Leanne K. Knobloch,Erin D. Basinger
• Date: 01 April 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12447

L K. KUniversity of Illinois

E D. BUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte

Communication Mediators of the Link Between

Depressive Symptoms and Relationship Satisfaction

Among Army Soldiers

Objective: We evaluated two fundamental

communication processes, self-disclosure and

destructive conict management strategies,

as mediators of the link between depressive

symptoms and relationship satisfaction among

married U.S. soldiers.

Background: Identifying the communication

behaviors underlying why people with depres-

sive symptoms are less satised with their

romantic relationship is a high priority for

research, and pinpointing relevant mediators

is especially important among military per-

sonnel who face particular job stressors and

relationship challenges.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional

self-report data from a representative sample of

4,196 married U.S. soldiers who participated in

the all-Army component of the Army Study to

Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers

(Army STARRS).

Results: Mediation was apparent such that peo-

ple’s depressive symptoms had indirect associa-

tions with their relationship satisfaction through

both their self-disclosure and their reports of

their partner’s destructive conict management

Department of Communication, University of Illinois, 3001

Lincoln Hall, 702 South Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801

(knobl@illinois.edu).

KeyWords: conict, depressive symptoms, military,relation-

ship satisfaction, self-disclosure.

strategies.In contrast, mediation was not evident

for their reports of their own destructive conict

management strategies.

Conclusion: Less self-disclosure and more

destructive conict management strategies by a

partner may be reasons why soldiers experienc-

ing depressive symptoms are less satised with

their romantic relationship.

Implications: Communication skills training

for self-disclosure and conict management

may help break the link between depressive

symptoms and relationship dissatisfaction.

Depressive symptoms are a key problem facing

the U.S. military (Eibner et al., 2008). Preva-

lence estimates suggest that approximately 13%

to 18% of service members suffer from depres-

sivesymptoms(Brittonet al., 2011;Russell

et al., 2015), with aspects of military life such as

frequent deployments and combat exposure con-

tributing to depressive symptoms (Mayo et al.,

2013;Russellet al., 2015;Wellset al., 2010),

and military values such as strength and stoicism

serving as impediments to seeking help (Brown

& Bruce, 2016; Flynn et al., 2013). Not only do

depressive symptoms interfere with operational

performance (Welsh et al., 2015), but they

also hinder the ability of service members to

maintain satisfying relationships (Knobloch &

Theiss,2011). For example, depressive symp-

toms among military personnel correspond with

422Family Relations 70 (April 2021): 422–436

DOI:10.1111/fare.12447