Military marriages stay strong despite challenges

Comparing marital status and divorce status in civilian and military populations

From Journal of Family Issues

Despite the fact that military service means working long hours with unpredictable schedules, frequent relocations, and separations from loved ones due to deployment, this study finds that marriages of military members are not more vulnerable than civilian marriages. According to the authors, members of the military are significantly more likely to be married, but are not more likely to be divorced than civilians with matched characteristic. Additionally, the risk of divorce among military marriages has not seen a real increase since the current military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq began, though they have led to lengthy deployments overseas. The researchers discussed the reasons for their findings, citing the extensive benefits provided to married military members such as housing supplements, cost of living bonuses, the ability to live off-base with their families, and full spousal health care coverage.

Coping strategies of race-related stress among African American Women may actually increase stress

Coping strategies as moderators of the relation between individual race-related stress and mental health symptoms for African American women

From Psychology of Women Quarterly

Race-related stress has been studied extensively. This research looks at the various methods of coping with the effects of race-related stress among African-American women to determine whether the use of various methods of coping were more successful. It reveals how coping strategies may actually increase their stress instead of alleviate it. Coping strategies were categorized as: collective-centered coping, such as asking for advice from elders or the community, cognitive-emotional coping, such as seeking out people who could draw out emotions like laughter or happiness, spiritual-centered coping, such as prayer and ritual-centered coping, such as lighting a candle. The results showed that the use of one particular method of coping, the use of ritual-centered coping, actually increased stress levels. The author observes that “African American women are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of race-related stress, given their socially constructed identities as African Americans and as women. Thus, it is critical to the overall well-being of African American women that coping efforts are identified that assist in alleviating the psychological impacts associated with race and the intersection of race- and gender-related challenges.”

Confirmation that stressed people can’t resist the temptation of a cigarette

Stress decreases the ability to resist smoking and potentiates smoking intensity and reward

 

From Journal of Psychopharmacology

 

Despite tobacco being responsible for 5.4 million deaths per year and well publicized as one of the most preventable causes of mortality in the developed world, many of us still reach for a cigarette at the first sign of stress. Using a novel human laboratory model this study examined stress as a causal factor in accounts of smoking relapse, identifying a clear link between stress and reduced ability to resist smoking. The findings of this research have implications for understanding motivation as well as the putative value of tobacco, and point to a potential mechanism underlying stress-precipitated relapse behavior.