Latent Profiles of Postdeployment Reintegration Among Service Members and Their Partners

Consistent with the emotional cycle of deployment, postdeployment reintegration is often a time of highs and lows as service members (SMs) and their families adjust to their new normal. However, few studies have considered the nuances of reintegration, specifically the various patterns of personal and family reintegration experiences that may exist. The present study uses latent profile analysis to identify unique reintegration patterns along four dimensions (i.e., positive personal, negative personal, positive family, and negative family reintegration) for SMs (N = 236) and a subsample of their civilian partners (N = 141). Differences among the resulting reintegration profiles were also examined for demographics, military-related characteristics, psychosocial characteristics, and individual and family functioning. Three profile groups with varying reintegration experiences emerged for SMs, and two groups emerged for civilian partners. For both SMs and their civilian partners, one profile (39.0% of SMs and 63.8% of civilian partners) was characterized by high positive family and personal reintegration and low negative family and personal reintegration. Other groups reported moderate to high positive and negative family and personal reintegration. SMs and civilian partners with the most favorable reintegration profile reported greater family cohesion. For SMs, differences in sleep were also reported across the reintegration profiles, whereas, for civilian partners, differences in depressive symptoms emerged across the reintegration profiles. Few group differences emerged for demographics, military-related characteristics, and psychosocial characteristics. Findings highlight important variability in military families' experiences within the reintegration stage of the deployment cycle.