America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: Hidden Heroes Emerging from the Shadows.

The authors produced new estimates of the number of adults caregiving in the United States today; investigated how those caring for wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans compare with those caring for civilians and with non-caregivers; and share insights on the potential consequences of caregiving on caregiversapos health, their economic security, and their families' well-being. They also propose recommendations to strengthen caregiver support. The information in this study is derived from two sources.

Predicting soldier retention from army spouse characteristics and attitudes: Soldiering on with spouse support.

The U.S. Army has a vested interest in retaining the skilled personnel necessary to achieve its mission and strategic goals.

Integrating Psychological Counseling into National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs: Insights and Recommendations from Current Practices.

The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16 to 18 who are experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties in traditional high school. Mental health disorders are an increasing concern among adolescents, and the youth served by ChalleNGe may be particularly at risk for mental health disorders. To better understand how ChalleNGe can support cadets with mental health disorders, RAND researchers conducted interviews with counselors from six ChalleNGe sites and surveyed 39 ChalleNGe sites about their counseling services and cadets' mental health needs in 2019.

Assessing the Needs of Soldiers and Their Families at the Garrison Level.

The RAND Arroyo Center conducted a 2014 formal needs assessment survey of active component soldiers at 40 installations. The original study described a broad landscape of needs in such areas as quality of life support services provided to help families cope with a variety of challenges. In this study, new analysis of those survey data explores differences at the garrison level and includes additional focus group data.

Exploring the association between changes in partner behaviors, perceived service member drinking, and relationship quality: Secondary analysis of a web-based intervention for military partners.

Problematic drinking is a serious and persistent problem among U.S. military service members and veterans, who face barriers to seeking help and are less likely to seek help than the civilian population.

The longitudinal effects of military spouses' concern and behaviors over partner drinking on relationship functioning.

Among those in close relationships, the perception that one's partner has a drinking problem is more strongly related to detriments in relationship quality than are the actual rates of the partner's drinking. The current study extends this work by examining the effects of this perception on relationship functioning longitudinally and whether this association is mediated by changes in how one behaves in response to their partner's drinking. Spouses and partners of military service members who were concerned about their partner's drinking (n = 234) completed a baseline survey and a follow-up assessment five months later.

An Evaluation of U.S. Military Non-Medical Counseling Programs.

This study evaluates two programs offered by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) that provide short-term, solution-focused counseling for common personal and family issues to members of the U.

Informal Caregivers' Experiences and Perceptions of a Web-Based Peer Support Network: Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Web-based peer support interventions have shown promise in reducing social isolation and social support deficits among informal caregivers, but little research has examined how caregivers use and perceive these interventions.

Objective: In this study, we examined utilization and perceptions of a Web-based social support intervention for informal caregivers of wounded, ill, and injured United States military service members and veterans.

Methods: This was a mixed-methods study that used quantitative survey data and qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with informal caregivers enrolled in a Web-based peer support intervention to explore their use and perceptions of the intervention.

Online peer support groups for family caregivers: are they reaching the caregivers with the greatest needs?

Background: Online peer support groups are an increasingly common venue for caregivers supporting disabled family members to exchange informational, emotional, and instrumental support. We know very little, however, about who uses these groups and whether they are reaching those with the greatest needs.

Objective: To examine whether caregiving factors (ie, caregiving demands and strain, competing demands, access to support and services, and other caregiving characteristics) are related to online community support use and intensity of use.

Improving Support for America's Hidden Heroes: A Research Blueprint.

The United States is home to more than 21 million veterans, many of whom deployed to support combat operations around the globe during their military service and sustained service-related conditions or disabilities. Supporting these wounded, ill, and injured warriors once home are millions of informal caregivers-individuals who provide unpaid support with activities that enable the service member or veteran to live in a noninstitutionalized setting. In this study, researchers describe elements of a research blueprint to inform future efforts to improve support for military and veteran caregivers.

Efficacy of a Web-based Intervention for Concerned Spouses of Service Members and Veterans with Alcohol Misuse.

Concerned partners (CPs) of service members and veterans who misuse alcohol face help-seeking barriers and mental health problems. We used multiple regression to evaluate the efficacy of Partners Connect, a four-session web-based intervention (WBI) to address military CPs' mental health and communication. We randomized 312 CPs to the WBI or a control group.

The Deployment Life Study: Longitudinal Analysis of Military Families Across the Deployment Cycle.

In 2009, RAND launched the Deployment Life Study, a longitudinal study of military families across a deployment cycle in order to assess family readiness. refers to the state of being prepared to effectively navigate the challenges of daily living experienced in the unique context of military service. The study surveyed families at frequent intervals throughout a complete deployment cycle---before a service member deploys (sometimes months before), during the actual deployment, and after the service member returns (possibly a year or more after she or he redeployed).

The salience and severity of relationship problems among low-income couples.

Developing programs to support low-income married couples requires an accurate understanding of the challenges they face. To address this question, we assessed the salience and severity of relationship problems by asking 862 Black, White, and Latino newlywed spouses (N = 431 couples) living in low-income neighborhoods to (a) free list their 3 biggest sources of disagreement in the marriage, and (b) rate the severity of the problems appearing on a standard relationship problem inventory. Comparing the 2 sources of information revealed that, although relational problems (e.

Shifting liberal and conservative attitudes using moral foundations theory.

People's social and political opinions are grounded in their moral concerns about right and wrong. We examine whether five moral foundations--harm, fairness, ingroup, authority, and purity--can influence political attitudes of liberals and conservatives across a variety of issues. Framing issues using moral foundations may change political attitudes in at least two possible ways: (a) Entrenching: Relevant moral foundations will strengthen existing political attitudes when framing pro-attitudinal issues (e.

Feeling (Mis)Understood and Intergroup Friendships in Interracial Interactions.

The present research investigated whether having out-group friends serves as a buffer for feeling misunderstood in interracial interactions. Across three experience sampling studies, we found that among ethnic minorities who have few White friends or are not interacting with White friends, daily interracial interactions are associated with feeling less understood. By contrast, we found that among ethnic minorities who have more White friends or are interacting with White friends, the relationship between daily interracial interactions and feeling understood is not significant.

The costs of racism for marriage: how racial discrimination hurts, and ethnic identity protects, newlywed marriages among Latinos.

The experience of racial or ethnic discrimination is a salient and severe stressor that has been linked to numerous disparities in important outcomes. Yet, the link between perceived discrimination and marital outcomes has been overlooked by research on relationship stressors. The current study examined this link and tested whether ethnic identity buffered the relation between discrimination and ratings of marital quality and verbal aggression.

Interracial roommate relationships: negotiating daily interactions.

Jobs, social group memberships, or living arrangements lead many people to interact every day with another person from a different racial background. Given that research has shown that interracial interactions are often stressful, it is important to know how these daily interactions unfold across time and what factors contribute to the success or failure of these interactions. Both members of same-race and mixed-race college roommate pairs completed daily questionnaires measuring their emotional experiences and their perceptions of their roommate.

Relational anxiety in interracial interactions.

Most of the research on intergroup anxiety has examined the impact of people's own anxiety on their own outcomes. In contrast, we show that in intergroup interactions, one's partner's anxiety is just as important as one's own anxiety (if not more important). Using a diary study among college roommates, we show that partners' anxiety predicts respondents' anxiety across time on a daily basis, as well as respondents' interest in living together again the next year.