Cumulative deployment length, perceived stress, marital satisfaction and the moderating role of social support among spouses of military personnel in the Dalet Cantonment, Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

The marital satisfaction of military spouses is a critical concern considering the unique family-related stressors they have to face. This phenomenon can be profoundly influenced by factors such as partner deployments, experienced stress, and the level of social support available to them. Despite extensive research on these, there is limited understanding of how they interact specifically within the context  of Nigerian military families. Employing a cross-sectional design, the research used convenient sampling to select participants from Dalet Cantonment Kaduna. Three psychometrically sound scales were used to gather data in this study. The questionnaire sought demographic characteristics of the participants, as well as measuring their perceived social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived  Social Support, perceived stress using the Perceived Stress Scale and marital satisfaction with the Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS).  Result obtained on regressing the marital satisfaction scores of participants on their husbands’ cumulative deployment length shows that  cumulative deployment length is a significant predictor of marital satisfaction scores (β = .284, p <.001). Hypothesis two was tested  by regressing the marital satisfaction scores of participants on their perceived stress and it showed that perceived stress is a significant  predictor of marital satisfaction scores (β = -.332, p <.001). The analysis for hypothesis three revealed that social support will moderate the  relationship between cumulative deployment length and marital satisfaction among wives of military complex roles of deployment  length, perceived stress, and social support. The findings underscore the importance of social support in mitigating stress and  maintaining marital satisfaction even during extended deployments. This research provides a basis for developing targeted support  interventions and suggests directions for future studies to further explore these relationships.