How can sexual and romantic partnerships help prevent burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue in military contexts?
In the military, personnel often experience high levels of stress due to intense training, deployments, combat experiences, and long working hours that may lead to burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue. These conditions are characterized by feelings of exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and reduced effectiveness, which impact individual wellbeing, unit cohesion, and mission readiness.
Research suggests that sexual and romantic partnerships can provide a buffer against these negative effects by providing emotional support, social connection, and a sense of purpose. This article will explore how these partnerships can alleviate burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigure in military contexts, considering factors such as relationship quality, gender, age, and sexual orientation.
Understanding the role of relationships in mitigating burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue
Burnout
Studies have shown that positive relationships play a significant role in reducing burnout among military personnel. One study found that individuals with more supportive relationships reported lower levels of burnout compared to those with less supportive ones (Smith et al., 2018). In addition, military couples who reported higher levels of intimacy and satisfaction had lower rates of burnout than their counterparts (Davis & Smith, 2014). Another study revealed that having dependents decreased burnout symptoms in soldiers (Bartone, Hayslip, Grossman, & Green, 2007).
These findings suggest that having a strong network of supportive relationships, including romantic partnerships, can help prevent burnout among military personnel.
Moral injury
Research has found that moral injury, characterized by feelings of betrayal, guilt, and shame after witnessing or participating in distressing events during deployment, is significantly reduced when service members are involved in healthy relationships. One study showed that veterans with high-quality marriages were less likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury symptoms than those without (Hickling, Nielsen, Ariel-Donges, & Mills, 2016). Another investigation found that married troops experienced fewer cases of PTSD and moral injury than their unmarried peers (Gutierrez, Tuerk, & McPherson, 2015). These results indicate that positive relationships may act as a buffer against moral injury by providing a sense of purpose and emotional support.
Psychological fatigue
Individuals who are engaged in romantic or sexual partnerships tend to exhibit greater resilience to psychological fatigue compared to those without such connections.
One study discovered that soldiers who reported more frequent contact with their spouses had higher levels of wellbeing and lower rates of psychological fatigue (Parks et al., 2019). Another investigation revealed that having dependents decreased the risk of experiencing psychological exhaustion (Bartone et al., 2007). This evidence suggests that intimate relationships can help prevent psychological fatigue among military personnel.
Factors influencing the effectiveness of relationships as buffers
While research indicates that sexual and romantic partnerships play a role in mitigating burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue, several factors may influence their efficacy as buffers. Gender, age, and sexual orientation have been shown to impact the relationship between relationships and these negative effects.
Female service members were more likely to report reduced symptoms of burnout when they had strong social support networks (Smith et al., 2018), suggesting that gender may modulate the protective benefits of relationships. Likewise, younger service members experienced less burnout when they had close friends and family than older counterparts (Davis & Smith, 2014), indicating that age may also influence the effectiveness of relationships as buffers.
Heterosexual service members were found to benefit more from positive romantic relationships than LGBTQ+ individuals (Hickling et al., 2016), highlighting potential differences based on sexual orientation.
Sexual and romantic partnerships provide an important buffer against burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue in military contexts by providing emotional support, social connection, and purpose.
Factors such as gender, age, and sexual orientation may influence the effectiveness of these relationships in alleviating negative effects. As such, it is essential for military leaders to promote healthy relationships among personnel, recognizing individual needs and barriers to effective connections. By fostering positive relationships, military organizations can enhance unit cohesion, mission readiness, and personal wellbeing while reducing the risk of negative mental health outcomes.
To what extent do sexual and romantic partnerships buffer against burnout, moral injury, and psychological fatigue in military contexts?
In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in examining the role of social relationships in the prevention of occupational stress among individuals working in high-risk settings such as the military. Research suggests that various forms of support, including social connection and collaboration with colleagues, can help mitigate the negative impacts of occupational demands on mental health outcomes (e. g. , Kahn & Antonakis, 2018; Spreitzer et al.