The Foreign Service Journal, April 2009

who are younger, married for shorter periods of time, are more likely to have fewer and younger children and, as a result, tend to be more isolated than spouses with older children. In an interesting and surprising finding, foreign-born spouses did not report significantly more re-entry diffi- culty than U.S.-born spouses. Though they did exhibit distress, their levels were statistically similar to those of U.S.-born spouses. This result was un- expected, as anecdotal evidence sug- gests that foreign-born spouses would have a more difficult time when as- signed to the U.S. because it is not “coming home.” One possible explanation for this re- sult could be that foreign-born spouses view a return to the U.S. as they would another foreign assignment. From this perspective, they are better prepared to manage coming to the U.S. as “strangers in a strange land” than U.S.- born spouses, who are strangers in a land that is supposed to be familiar. Another important finding showed that spouses whose return was more difficult than they had expected expe- rienced more readjustment difficulty. This has been shown in previous re- search as a discrepancy between the expectations of returning home and the actual experience. Also, spouses who had been in the U.S. for less than two years were shown to have a higher incidence of re-entry problems than those who had been in the U.S. longer. This is consistent with previous re- search showing that symptoms are usu- ally highest in the first six to 12 months after re-entry and abate with time. Changing Perspectives, Interesting Links The statistical results also showed a link between two overseas factors and re-entry adjustment. First, spouses who participated more in a range of ac- tivities overseas (whether embassy, ex- patriate or local national) were found to have fewer re-entry problems than those who participated less in such ac- tivities. This result appeared to make sense, as participation indicates less isolation and those who are less iso- lated overseas may tend to be less iso- lated at home, as well. Another unexpected finding was that participation in U.S. embassy ac- tivities and interactions reduced re- entry distress more than participation in expatriate or local national activities. This was particularly interesting be- cause becoming involved outside the embassy is viewed positively in the Foreign Service. This result shows an- other side to overseas cultural involve- ment or “going native,” which may be an increased sense of not fitting in when returning home. In fact, a change in cultural identity from an American perspective to more of a host-country perspective (or sim- ply to a less American perspective) had a high statistical association with re-entry distress. Eventually, after several months back in the States, spouses resume a more American ori- entation. But nearly all (95 percent) reported that some changes remained, as they maintained a more interna- tional perspective. A most interesting and surprising finding was that spouses who obtained re-entry information after their return experienced more problems than those who did not receive such infor- mation at all. This finding at first ap- pears counterintuitive. However, it could mean that spouses who sought help after returning home were al- ready displaying significant re-entry distress, and by that point information itself could not alleviate their symp- toms. These spouses may have needed more intervention. Some Major Points In responses to two short-answer questions, the spouses described their most recent re-entry experience. The following major points emerged: • The first re-entry is the most dif- ficult; later episodes are less so. • The challenge in later re-entries is dealing with family members’ ad- justment, including children acclimat- ing to new schools and friends and the employee spouse adjusting to a more bureaucratic environment. As one spouse described it: “Coping with my husband’s ‘hard landing’ and depres- sion for nine months was very stress- ful, as was getting children oriented and on track.” • The Foreign Service lifestyle has many pros and cons, but the best and most challenging aspects are the friendships made and then left behind. • Returning home to retire is also a challenge. Retiree spouses noted some painful losses after an active For- eign Service lifestyle and felt, as one spouse put it, “left out in the cold by the department.” • Spouses who were assigned to other U.S. locations upon re-entry also showed high levels of distress. One spouse stated, “We were thrown into an unknown city (not Washington, D.C.) without any help. It is extremely expensive. I feel very lonely and want to leave as soon as possible.” The second question asked spouses to suggest ways the Department of State could further assist with re-entry. There were two major themes to their responses: 36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 9 The Foreign Service lifestyle has many pros and cons, but the best and most challenging aspects are the friendships made and then left behind.