Research project

Socio-emotional well-being and economic outcomes for currently serving military families

Examining differences relative to civilian families through a series of rapid reviews

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Who is this research most relevant to?

  • Family therapy and systemic practice clinicians
  • Policymakers

Contact for further information

Professor Jennifer McIntosh

Overview

In 2022-2023, The Bouverie Centre conducted a four-part review to better understand the impacts of military service on family functioning and child/spouse relationships. Commissioned by the Australian Defence Force, the research informed policy priorities for the sector and provided recommendations for effective support for Defence families.

Key research highlights

  • Military service negatively impacted couple relationship quality, with a significant decrease in marital satisfaction for men and women as deployment stages progressed.
  • Rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) were higher in military families relative to the general population.
  • Children in military families experienced substantially higher risk of negative psychological, social, and behavioural health outcomes than their civilian peers, with parental deployment increasing risk across all developmental stages (i.e., early, middle, and late childhood).

Research Outputs

  1. McIntosh, J., Painter, F., Opie, J., Hameed, M., Vuong, A., Dowling, R., Boh, J., McLean, N., Jiang, H., & Booth, A. (2023). Family Cohesion and Relationship Quality in Defence Force Families: Rapid Review. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 11. 56-93 https://doi.org/10.26181/22259872.v1
  2. Jiang, H. , Dowling, R. , Hameed, M. , Painter, F. , Vuong, A. , Booth, A. , Opie, J. , Boh, J. , McLean, N., &McIntosh, J. (2022) Comparison of Social and Economic Stress in Military and Civilian Families: A Rapid Review of the Evidence. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 320-347. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.1011022
  3. Opie, J.E., Hameed, M., Vuong, A. Painter, F., Booth, A.T., Jiang, H., Dowling, R., Boh, J., McLean, N., & McIntosh, J.E. (2024). Children’s Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes in Military Families: A Rapid Review. J Child Fam Stud 33, 1949–1967. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-024-02856-5

Research project team

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