Society has a moral obligation and duty of care to service personnel and their families, as enshrined in the Armed Forces Covenant. This article explores the stress experience of a military family transitioning to civilian life. Methods included a critical literature review and reflections from the author’s own practice as a community psychiatric nurse working with military personnel, their spouses/partners and children. Increased stress among military families pre, during and post-transition is a potential trigger for the development of mental health problems. While the association between stress and onset or reoccurrence of mental disorders in military personnel has been well documented, it is not well studied in military families during the transition phase. Issues identified include where they will live, uncertainty about employment, concerns about finances, schooling, health care and adjusting to life outside of the military support network. Further research is needed into the effects of a family transition from military to civilian life.
Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2018.e1311
CitationThomas G (2018) The stress effects of military families’ transition to civilian life. Mental Health Practice. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2018.e1311
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Published online: 09 August 2018
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