Concurrent risks and resilience characteristics experienced by military spouses

Guided by developmental systems theory and the military family risk and resilience framework, this person-centered study examined risk and resilience heterogeneity among 334 female Army spouses. Utilizing latent profile analysis on 11 risk factors and five resilience factors, researchers identified two distinct risk profiles, Low Risk (85.3%) and High Risk (14.7%), and three resilience profiles, Limited (25.6%), Functional (55.1%), and Socially Integrated (19.3%). The High Risk group demonstrated clinically elevated mental health symptoms alongside significant relational and trauma-related challenges. Resilience profiles were primarily differentiated by social resources, specifically social support and network size. In particular, the socially integrated group featured social networks that were, on average, five times larger than those in the limited resilience group. This profound difference highlights the protective nature of extensive social connections, which serve as a primary structural driver of spousal resilience and align closely with our developmental systems framework. Demographic findings revealed that Black spouses were more likely to fall into the High Risk category, while spouses of officers were more likely to exhibit Socially Integrated Resilience. These results highlight a critical need for trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and system-level interventions designed to strengthen social connectivity among military spouses to mitigate risk and bolster long-term resilience.