Introduction: Resilience in Military Families

Abstract

Abstract Psychological health of military families is essential to ensuring the retention and readiness of military personnel. Despite the negative impact of military life related stressors on health and well-being of military families, contemporary research shows that families remain resilient. The definition and operationalization of resilience have recently received considerable attention in North American research, highlighting the importance of the resilience construct for military families. However, there has been minimal research conducted to date to identify the key resilience factors among military families. This special issue discusses the key challenges to resilience as related to the needs of military families, factors contributing to resilience, and well-being outcomes in military families, including spouses, children and parents of military members. Recommendations for military organizations, current research gaps, and future research directions are discussed.