Samenvatting

With the expanding participation of the armed forces in international operations, service members and their families are experiencing more military deployments. The frequent and lengthy separations and the risks involved can affect the well-­ being of service members and their families in diverse ways. Maintaining well-­ being is important because it affects readiness and how well military members are able to perform their jobs. Moreover, well-­ being is found to be associated with commitment, morale, retention, and willingness to support military operations. Well-­ being is hard to define. It is often associated with being happy, healthy, or prosperous and is determined by: physical and mental health, income and wealth, and satisfaction with specific domains in life (e.g. job satisfaction, marital satisfac - tion, satisfaction with leisure) (e.g. Booth et al. 2007). Although the large majority of service members and families cope well, a certain amount (3– 25 percent) encounter serious hardships and develop psychological problems, such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, post-­ traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and even suicide. It is difficult to provide exact statistical information and sometimes research shows divergent results (e.g. regarding the impact of military operations on health, marital relationships and divorce rates, and suicide rates). Whether it is considered a moral obligation or benefiting the organization, military organizations have increased their efforts to preserve and promote well-­ being amongst their personnel and families, especially in the context of ongoing military operations. Various interventions have been developed aimed at reducing the impact of stressors that military personnel and families face. This chapter aims at describing efforts to preserve and promote well-­ being from a theoretical and practical perspective. First, a theoretical framework is presented in order to better understand the antecedents of well-­ being and the underlying processes. Second, we briefly outline the stressors that service personnel and their families may face in the course of deployments. Subsequently, we describe certain important factors that influence the impact of these stressors on well-­ being. Finally, taking an international perspective, we identify interventions that have proven to be effective in reducing stress and enhancing the well-­ being of service personnel and their families before, during, and after operations.