Who am I? A qualitative exploration of the identities of spouses/partners of UK Armed Forces Veterans

Abstract

LAY SUMMARY Military life can negatively affect partner health/well-being and their sense of identity during and after service. To date, most research has focused on the identities of personnel post-transition, with little examining partner identities. Using interviews with 37 current and former partners (31 female, 6 male) from the UK Veterans Family Study, the identities of Veteran partners were explored. Participants discussed military identity and culture, role-based identities, and loss of personal identity. Identities could be taken on or given to partners from within the military community and were often underpinned by military life and culture during and after service. Long-term impacts on self-esteem and confidence were reported, as were pride and resilience. Employment post-transition allowed restoration of personal identity but was sometimes at the cost of the community provided by being in the armed forces. Findings show the difficulties some Veteran partners experienced in maintaining personal identity during and after a Veteran’s service. Future research should concentrate on short- and long-term effects of identity loss/change among military and Veteran partners to inform and improve current and future strategies supporting families.