Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the unique experiences of male spouses of female military personnel during the deployment of their spouse. More specifically, by investigating how factors such as their coping style, military experience, gender role orientation, and gender role conflict, influenced their psychological distress during this time. This is an important area of study because the current body of research related to how spouses cope with and experience deployment related distress has been exclusively focused on female spouses. Thus, the current study hopes to address this gap in the literature by focusing on the mental health of male military spouses' and their unique experience in the deployment of their spouse. A total of 127 male military spouses participated in the study. Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that an emotion-focused coping style, gender role conflict, and masculine gender role orientation were predictors of distress. Specifically, emotion-focused coping, such as denial, distraction, and substance abuse, predicted an increase in distress. Masculine gender role orientation and gender role conflict predicted less distress. Implications include increased awareness and knowledge of male military spouses' mental health needs for the purposes of program development and provision of effective clinical services.