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Spouses most frequently chose work-life balance, military practices and culture, and own well-being as their top problem domains

• Feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or tired — both the spouse and the soldier — was spouses' most frequently selected issue, followed by feelings of loneliness or boredom.

Among spouses who had needs for help, the most frequently prioritized type of help was emotional or social support

• Spouses of junior enlisted soldiers were more likely to indicate a need for general information, particularly for problems with military practices and culture.

The most commonly contacted types of resources were spouses' personal networks outside the military, other military spouses they knew in person, a military-covered medical provider, and civilian and military internet resources or social media

• The most commonly reported reason for not using resources to help with needs was that respondents did not know whom to contact for help.

If spouses used resources to help with their needs, most had their needs met

• However, among all spouses, some indicated having one or more unmet needs.
• The two problem domains with higher rates of unmet needs were military practices and culture and health care system problems.
• The two domains with lowest rates of unmet needs were own well-being and household management.

For each outcome — perceived stress, general attitudes toward the military, and support for their soldiers staying in the military — those who had their needs unmet reported the most stress and the least-positive attitudes

• Spouses who were unemployed and looking for work, lived farther from their soldiers' posts, or were married to junior enlisted soldiers were particularly vulnerable.

U.S. Army families face not only challenges affecting all families but also those related to military service; the latter challenges may create new problems or exacerbate existing problems. The Army has recognized these unique challenges and implemented programs and services to help Army families and Army spouses, in particular. The authors of this report describe the results of the unique survey approach to understanding Army family program use through the lens of a problem-solving process.

In the survey, completed by more than 8,500 Army spouses, participants received a list of specific challenges within nine problem domains, and spouses were asked to prioritize which two top problem domains contained the most significant problems they faced in the past year; what their top needs were for each problem; which resources, if any, they had contacted to meet the needs; and whether using those resources met their needs. Finally, respondents were asked about three specific outcomes — experience of stress, general attitudes toward the Army, and support for the soldier spouse remaining in the Army — and the authors analyzed the association between the problem-solving process and these three outcomes.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Survey Content and Method

• Chapter Three

  Respondents' Problems and Needs

• Chapter Four

  Respondents' Use of Resources to Address Needs

• Chapter Five

  Unmet Needs and Interrelations Among Problems, Needs, Resources, and Attitudes

• Chapter Six

  Conclusions and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  Survey Instrument

• Appendix B

  Additional Analyses

• Appendix C

  Detailed Sociodemographic Subgroup Tables