Influence of family factors on service members' decisions to leave the military

• Published date: 01 July 2023
• Author: Kelly A. Woodall,Alejandro P. Esquivel,Teresa M. Powell,Lyndon A. Riviere,Paul J. Amoroso,Valerie A. Stander,
• Date: 01 July 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12757

RESEARCH

Influence of family factors on service members’

decisions to leave the military

Kelly A. Woodall

1,2

|Alejandro P. Esquivel

1,2

|Teresa M. Powell

3

|

Lyndon A. Riviere

4

|Paul J. Amoroso

5

|Valerie A. Stander

2

for the

Millennium Cohort Family Study Team

1

Leidos, Inc., San Diego, CA

2

Military Population Health Directorate,

Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA

3

The Informatics Applications Group,

Reston, VA

4

Center for Military Psychiatry and

Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of

Research, Silver Spring, MD

5

Readiness, Acceleration, and Innovation

Network, Tacoma, WA

Correspondence

Kelly A. Woodall, Military Population Health

Directorate, Naval Health Research Center,

140 Sylvester Road, San Diego, CA 92106,

USA.

Email: kelly.a.woodall.ctr@health.mil

Abstract

Background: Service member retention is a crucial aspect

in maintaining and advancing the U.S. military and its

mission. To increase retention, it is important to under-

stand why active duty personnel voluntarily leave while

they are still highly qualified. For married service mem-

bers, spouses likely influence the decision to stay or leave

military service.

Objective: The current study used data from the Millen-

nium Cohort Family Study for 4,539 dyads comprising

service members and their spouses to investigate family

predictors of voluntary military separation.

Methods: Multivariate mediation analyses were conducted

to evaluate the role of military satisfaction (spouse and ser-

vice member) and work–family conflict as mediators of

the effects of both family life and military stressors on risk

for military separation, while accounting for spouse and

service member demographics.

Author noteThe authors express their gratitude to the other contributing members of the Millennium Cohort Family Study Team from

Naval Health Research Center, including Isabel Altarejos, Lauren Bauer, Hope McMaster, Jacqueline Pflieger, TravisRay, Sabrina

Richardson, and Alexis Takata. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Nida Corry, Danielle Hunt, Dana Maglic,Sharmini

Radakrishnan, Christopher Spera, and Christianna Williams from Abt Associates and contributions of the Millennium Cohort Study

Team In addition, the authors express their gratitude to the Family Study participants, without whom this study would not be possible.

Disclaimer: One or more of the authors are military service members or employees of the U.S. government. This work was prepared as

part of my official duties. Title 17, U.S.C. §105 provides that copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the U.

S. Government. Title 17, U.S.C. §101 defines a U.S. Government work as work prepared by a military service member or employee of

the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties. Report No. 21-52 was supported by the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and

Surgery under work unit no. N1240. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official

policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, nor the U.S. Government. The study protocol was approved

by the Naval Health Research Center Institutional Review Board in compliance with all applicable Federal regulations governing the

protection of human subjects. Research data were derived from an approved Naval Health Research Center Institutional Review Board

protocol, number NHRC.2015.0019.

Received: 16 September 2021Revised: 22 February 2022Accepted: 26 June 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12757

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations. This

article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

1138 Family Relations. 2023;72:1138–1157.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

Results: Results identified significant family factors oper-

ating through work–family conflict and military satisfac-

tion that were associated with increased likelihood of

service member voluntary separation, including number

of children, spouse bothered by finances, and service

member months away from home. Service members with

spouses who reported higher levels of social support

were significantly less likely to voluntarily separate, after

operating through both work–family conflict and military

satisfaction.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings suggest that work–

family conflict and military satisfaction play an important

synergistic role in predicting the impact family and career

factors have on voluntary separation. These modifiable

factors may guide potential interventions to increase

military retention efforts.

KEYWORDS

mediation, military families, military satisfaction, retention, service

members, work–family conflict

In 2020, nearly 160,000 military personnel separated from the active duty military force and

more than 121,600 selected Reserve and National Guard personnel separated (U.S. Depart-

ment of Defense [DoD], 2021). Among the active duty force, voluntary separation (45%) was

the leading type of military separation, followed by involuntary (29%), retirement (26%), and

death (0.3%; DoD, 2021). Service members voluntarily separate when their contract term has

expired and they decide not to renew their contract for another term. These service members

are likely the qualified, trained, fit, and ready force the military would ideally like to retain.

Additionally, it costs the military between $14,000 and $25,000 per enlistment for service

members who do not extend past their first term of service (Marrone, 2020). This suggests

losses could be as high $1.5 billion for voluntary separations among enlisted personnel in

2020 alone (enlisted separations 141,831; DoD, 2021). Thus, it is important to understand

why personnel voluntarily leave while they are still highly qualified, and these reasons may

not be solely dependent on the service member; the family’s influence also needs to be

considered.

This study adapted and highlighted aspects of the Segal et al. (2015)lifecourseframe-

work to examine how families influence service members to voluntarily leave or stay in the

military (Segal et al., 2015). Glen Elder (1998) was an early pioneer of the life course theory,

which outlines how chronological events (e.g., relationships, family life, an individual’sabil-

ity to deal with life transitions) and demographics (e.g., age, gender, race, socioeconomic sta-

tus) can lead to diverse life course trajectories. Much of the early research using life course

theoryfocusedonanindividual’s experiences, achievements, and well-being (Wilmoth &

London, 2013); however, more recently, a conceptual model suggested by Segal et al. applied

the concepts of this theory to service members and their families as a unit. The Segal model

intersected four dimensions within the military family life course model: service member’s

career (e.g., deployment, satisfaction), family life (e.g., marriage, work–family conflict),

children (development, behavior, school changes), and unexpected events (e.g., financial

problems, moving). These dimensions and the synergies between them impact the overall

outcome of family well-being (e.g., physical and mental health, relationship adjustment,

financial stability, employment).

FAMILY INFLUENCE ON MILITARY SEPARATION1139