FAMILY DISRUPTION AND ADULT ATTACHMENT CORRELATES OF SPOUSE AND CHILDREACTIONS TO SEPARATION AND REUNION DUE TO OPERATION DESERT-STORM

Employing predictors derived from the stress resistance and adult atta chment literature, two studies are reported on the effects of war sepa ration due to Operation Desert Storm on the families of South Carolina Reserve and National Guard member families. Study One, conducted duri ng March and April 1991 (just following the cessation of fighting), sa mpled soldiers' spouses who attended military support group meetings. Data showed that separation was correlated with emotional distress for spouses and internalizing-type behavior problems in children. Spouse distress was positively correlated with family disruption ratings and negatively correlated with attachment security whereas children's reac tions were primarily determined by mother distress and, to a lesser ex tent, family disruption. Attachment style was a particularly powerful predictor of distress among childless spouses. Only for those reportin g high levels of family disruption did military support group percepti ons moderate distress levels. In Study Two, conducted in December 1991 , six months after reunion, another sample was studied using participa nts who responded to a survey mailed to spouses of all state Reserve a nd National Guard personnel activated during Desert Storm. The instrum ent assessed retrospective accounts of distress during separation, and children's behavior at separation and reunion. As in Study One, distr ess was related to family disruption and attachment style, and materna l distress was highly related to children's behavior during deployment and at reunion. Adult attachment security was significantly related t o children's behavior at reunion and marginally related to behavior pr oblems during separation. Results are discussed with reference to both research on effects of war-related stresses on families, and on impor tance of considering adult attachment in research on stressful separat ions.