Faith of Our Sister Soldiers: National Guard Women Share Stories of Their Faith During and After Deployment.

In this qualitative study, we explored the religious and spiritual beliefs of women in the National Guard, the role of religion in their lives, and the effect of deployment and reintegration on women's belief systems. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 women service members who had been deployed. Results of the content analysis revealed five themes: (1) Religious Identity/Belief in God, (2) Religion/Spirituality has a Positive Impact, (3) Religious Activities, (4) Religiosity and Deployment, and (5) Religiosity/Spiritual Experiences Change over Time. Implications for future research and the incorporation of faith-based practices with women service members who may seek mental health treatment are discussed.

Perceptions of Individual and Family Functioning Among Deployed Female National Guard Members.

Females currently make up 15% of U.S. military service members. Minimal attention has been paid to families of female National Guard members who have been deployed and their subsequent reintegration challenges. This cross-sectional Internet-based survey of female members of four National Guard units compared those who were and were not deployed. Instruments, guided by the variables of the Family Resilience Model, measured individual, family, and deployment-related factors. Bivariate analysis and ordinal logistic regression were done to assess differences between the groups. Of the 239 National Guard members surveyed, deployed women (n = 164) had significantly higher levels of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; p < .001) and lower coping skills (p = .003) than non-deployed women (n = 75). Perceptions of overall family functioning were higher among deployed when compared with never deployed women. Results indicate community interventions that focus on strengthening coping skills of female Guard members would be useful for this population.

Postdeployment reintegration experiences of female soldiers from national guard and reserve units in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Women are an integral part of Reserve and National Guard units and active duty armed forces of the United States. Deployment to conflict and war zones is a difficult experience for both soldiers and their families. On return from deployment, all soldiers face the challenge of reintegration into family life and society, but those from the National Guard and Reserve units face the additional challenge of reintegration in relative isolation from other soldiers. There is limited research about the reintegration experiences of women and the functioning of the families during reintegration following deployment. OBJECTIVE: The goal was to document postdeployment family reintegration experiences of women in the National Guard. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 42 female members of Midwestern National Guard units. Directed content analysis was used to identify categories of experiences related to women's family reintegration. RESULTS: Five categories of postdeployment experience for female soldiers and their families were identified: Life Is More Complex, Loss of Military Role, Deployment Changes You, Reestablishing Partner Connections, and Being Mom Again. DISCUSSION: The categories reflected individual and family issues, and both need to be considered when soldiers and their families seek care. Additional research is needed to fully understand the specific impact of gender on women's reintegration.

Exploring burnout in batterer intervention programs.

This study used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to explore burnout in a sample of 115 batterer intervention program (BIP) workers (56% female, 44% male) from four midwestern states. The purpose of this study was to explore the role that demographic variables, job-setting variables, supervisor support, and personality characteristics played in predicting burnout for BIP workers. Significant associations emerged for all aspects of burnout. Job-setting variables and personality characteristics were predictive of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, whereas job-setting variables were predictive of personal accomplishment. The findings suggest that job and person variables are important factors to consider for burnout prevention and coping strategies for BIP workers. In addition, the results show that compared to MBI subscale norms for mental health workers, BIP workers fell in the moderate range for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, but in the high range for personal accomplishment.

Perceptions of Important Characteristics of Physical Activity Facilities: Implications for Engagement in Walking, Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity.

BACKGROUND: Although few United States adults meet physical activity recommendations, those that do are more likely to access to physical activity facilities. Additionally, vigorous exercisers may be more likely to utilize a nearby physical activity facility, while light-to-moderate exercisers are less likely to do so. However, it is unclear what characteristics of those facilities are most important as well as how those characteristics are related to activity intensity. PURPOSE: This study examined relationships between self-reported leisure-time physical activities and the use of and perceived characteristics of physical activity facilities. METHODS: Data were from a cross-sectional study in a major metropolitan area. Participants (N = 582; ages 18-74, mean age = 45 ± 14.7 years) were more likely to be female (69.9%), Caucasian (65.6%), married (51.7%), and have some college education (72.8%). Household surveys queried leisure-time physical activity, regular physical activity facility use, and importance ratings for key facility characteristics. RESULTS: Leisure-time physical activity recommendations were met by 41.0% of participants and 50.9% regularly used a physical activity facility. Regular facility use was positively associated with meeting walking (p = 0.036), moderate (p < 0.001), and vigorous (p < 0.001) recommendations. Vigorous exercisers were more likely to use a gym/fitness center (p = 0.006) and to place higher importance on facility quality (p = 0.022), variety of physical activity options offered (p = 0.003), and availability of special equipment and resources (p = 0.01). The facility characteristics of low or free cost (p = 0.02) and offering childcare (p = 0.028) were barriers for walking, and being where friends and family like to go were barriers for moderate leisure-time physical activity (p = 0.013). CONCLUSION: Findings offer insights for structuring interventions using the social ecological model as well as for improving existing physical activity facilities.

Behavioral interventions for obesity.

Because of the increased risk of comorbid conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, and the high health care costs associated with obesity, researchers and clinicians continually search for low-cost and effective treatments for weight loss and weight maintenance. In this article we provide an overview of the principles of behavior modification as applied to the treatment of obesity, examine the benefits of augmenting behavioral interventions with pharmacotherapy, and review the use of less-traditional applications of behavior modification in the treatment of obesity, specifically Internet interventions, meal replacements, and telephone interventions. Based on our review, we conclude that these less-traditional approaches can be used effectively to apply the principles of behavior modification, specifically stimulus control and self-monitoring, to obese patients. Future directions for research are outlined, which include examining the use of nontraditional behavioral interventions with children and the development of culturally sensitive interventions for racial and ethnic minority populations.