"Soldiers and their families are at risk for negative outcomes resulting from military deployment. In particular, National Guard soldiers and their families experience unique deployment challenges. On top of dealing with the consequences of combat-related trauma, they must also navigate multiple transitions between military and civilian life. Despite these obstacles, some soldiers report positive outcomes and personal growth due to deployment, a phenomenon most commonly referred to in the literature as posttraumatic growth (PTG). The current studies explored PTG in National Guard soldiers and their partners longitudinally, with the goals of validating reports of PTG in soldiers and exploring how PTG in soldiers and their partners may be related. Data were collected from National Guard soldiers and their partners at pre-deployment, reintegration, one year post-deployment and two years post-deployment. Informed by PTG theory, three domains were measured (perceived ability to handle stress, social support seeking, and purpose in life) at each of the four time points, with increases in these domains indicating PTG. Repeated measures latent profile analyses (RMLCA) and dyadic latent change score models were fit to the data to explore PTG. The results of the two studies indicate that PTG occurs for some soldiers, and that in specific domains PTG among partners is related. Findings emphasize the value of making efforts to facilitate PTG in soldiers, and where applicable, to take a systemic approach which involves partners."--Page ii.
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