Examining Multiple Rhythms of Military and Veteran Family Life

Abstract

AbstractThis review considers existing literature about military and veteran families' deployment‐related experiences in relation to three separate, yet related, temporal rhythms. First, we consider military family functioning within a short‐term rhythm focused on dynamic family interactions (e.g., communicative exchanges) that occur daily. Next, we consider medium‐term rhythms characterized by more temporal stability. Examples of such rhythms include established marital and parenting patterns that likely have bidirectional associations with adjustment to deployments or other experiences connected to military service. The final rhythm focuses on long‐term implications of wartime service for military and veteran families. We conclude by considering examples of ways these different rhythms of individual and family functioning may intersect. Our main purpose in highlighting these rhythms is to generate fruitful directions for future research about the conditions under which deployment‐induced transitions may produce periods of dysfunction, promote positive growth, or leave individuals and families relatively unchanged.