Sources of relational turbulence and strategies for resilience in U.S. military couples

Abstract:This dissertation examines how U.S. military couples perceive resilience in the face of ongoing structural uncertainty, institutional messaging, and daily relational challenges. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with service members and their partners, this study applies theories of relational turbulence and resilience to understand how military couples manage the demands of military life, including deployments, relocations, and career-related role asymmetries. Results show that relational turbulence among military couples is not limited to major transitions but often stems from micro-transitions, which are small, recurring disruptions in routines and responsibilities that cause strain. Participants described ongoing difficulties in coordinating household chores, parenting, and future planning, often in environments where unpredictability is normal. The resilience strategies participants enacted aligned with the five core resilience processes identified in the communication theory of resilience: crafting normalcy, affirming identity anchors, maintaining and using communication networks, putting alternative logics to use, and foregrounding positive emotions and actions. Moreover, military couples indicated that they enacted relationship maintenance through being open with one another, providing assurances to each other, enacting positive communication, sharing tasks, and spending quality time together. Thematic analysis revealed key overlaps between themes of relational turbulence and resilience processes, particularly in affirming identity anchors, fostering a sense of normalcy, and maintaining open communication. Notably, many couples employed proactive resilience strategies, indicating a more deliberate and forward-looking approach than what is typically portrayed in existing resilience models. This research advances relational communication scholarship highlighting how structural constraints, institutional discourses, and power imbalances influence relational processes differently for military couples. Ultimately, the findings suggest a need to reframe resilience to recognize the effort, agency, and adaptive strategies that emerge not in spite of instability but as active responses to it.