The Foreign Service Journal, April 2009

• Counseling and additional support resources should be made available for spouses and families in distress to man- age and regain control of their lives. • More information and resources about re-entry should be made avail- able, and spouses need to know how to access it. One spouse, a former FLO employee, stated: “Overseas posts should do a better job of publicizing the information available and empha- sizing the importance of preparing for re-entry.” Conclusions My study showed that re-entry problems were low to moderate for this sample of accompanying spouses overall — but their frequency was ac- tually much higher when just younger spouses were considered. Further, as spouses of active-duty FS employees would almost certainly be younger, on average, than this sample of AAFSW members, it is likely that more re- entry distress exists than is indicated by this study. To confirm this, I rec- ommend a similar study be conducted among active-duty accompanying spouses during their first six months after return. The results reported here identify the main factors associated with re- entry distress. Young spouses married for less than 10 years, and particularly those with young children and fewer children, have a higher rate of symp- toms after return. Spouses who par- ticipate less in activities overseas, especially events and relationships with other U.S. embassy personnel and families, also have greater difficulty with re-entry. Spouses who have been in re-entry for a shorter period of time, as well as those who did not expect to have difficulties, also show a greater likelihood of having problems. Most notable among the unantici- pated findings was the refutation of the traditional belief that foreign-born spouses have greater difficulty during re-entry than U.S.-born spouses. An- other unexpected result was the link between involvement in the American embassy community overseas and a re- duction in re-entry distress. The State Department, through the Family Liaison Office and Com- munity Liaison Offices, can utilize these findings to help identify Foreign Service spouses who may be more sus- ceptible to re-entry problems. The study indicated that more intervention prior to re-entry, while spouses are still overseas, would be beneficial. FLO has done an outstanding job supporting spouses and families, espe- cially with the new employment and training initiatives overseas and in the U.S. But as this report shows, re-entry remains an issue in need of more at- tention. A P R I L 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 37