Influence of family factors on service members' decisions to leave the military

Abstract

Background: Service member retention is a crucial aspect in maintaining and advancing the U.S. military and its mission. To increase retention, it is important to understand why active duty personnel voluntarily leave while they are still highly qualified. For married service members, spouses likely influence the decision to stay or leave military service. Objective: The current study used data from the Millennium Cohort Family Study for 4,539 dyads comprising service members and their spouses to investigate family predictors of voluntary military separation. Methods: Multivariate mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate the role of military satisfaction (spouse and service member) and work–family conflict as mediators of the effects of both family life and military stressors on risk for military separation, while accounting for spouse and service member demographics. Results: Results identified significant family factors operating through work–family conflict and military satisfaction that were associated with increased likelihood of service member voluntary separation, including number of children, spouse bothered by finances, and service member months away from home. Service members with spouses who reported higher levels of social support were significantly less likely to voluntarily separate, after operating through both work–family conflict and military satisfaction. Conclusion and Implications: Findings suggest that work–family conflict and military satisfaction play an important synergistic role in predicting the impact family and career factors have on voluntary separation. These modifiable factors may guide potential interventions to increase military retention efforts.