Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology (PhD)

Department

Clinical Psychology

First Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Lynette Bikos

Second Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. John Thoburn

Third Advisor/Committee Member

Dr. Sharleen Kato

Abstract

Expatriate populations encounter significant change throughout their expatriation experience, yet little is known about the individual expatriate’s mental health changes throughout the first year of this process. Even less explored is the impact that marital satisfaction and marital role salience have on the mental health trajectories of this population. Using hierarchical linear modeling, this study examined the mental health trajectories of a cohort of females (N = 32; age M = 38.63, SD = 2.65) moving with their spouses to Turkey. Further, the moderating effects of marital satisfaction (KMSS; Schumm, Milliken, Poresky, Bollman, & Jurich, 1983) and marital role salience (LRSS; Amatea et al., 1986) on these longitudinal mental health (MHI; Stewart, Ware, Sherbourne, & Wells, 1998; Veit & Ware, 1983) trajectories was explored. Data were collected at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months post-arrival in country. There was no significant trajectory for mental health across time, but statistically significant moderation of the trajectories by aggregate mental health was found (AGMHITOT, β12 = .004, SE = .001, p = .041; AGMHITOT, β22 = -.000, SE = .000, p = .039) and aggregate marital satisfaction was found to have a significant moderating effect on initial ratings of mental health (AGKMS, β02 = 0.027, SE = .048, p = .574). In the final model, marital role salience had a significant interaction (AGKMS, β11 = .122, SE = .066, p = .077) with marital satisfaction and was, itself, significantly moderated by aggregate mental health (AGMHITOT, β12 = .037, SE = .009, p < .001). Hypothesized impacts of marital satisfaction on mental health were not demonstrated, nor was significant change over time in mental health; sample size may have impacted this lack of findings. The results demonstrated that trait standings of mental health and marital satisfaction had more significant effects than these same variables measured independently across time. Exploring overall traits may therefore better predict well-being factors among expatriate populations during times of adjustment. The part of role expectations, trait mental health, and individual components of mental health are presented as areas for continued study.

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