Dissertations
Date of Award
Spring 3-27-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mental Health Counseling, School of
College
Pharmacy and Health Sciences, College of
First Advisor
Dr. Janet Hicks, Committee Chair
Second Advisor
Dr. Tom Knowles-Bagwell, Co-Chair
Third Advisor
Dr. Mitchell Waters, Methodologist
Abstract
The transition from active duty military member to civilian is fraught with multi-faceted stress. Spirituality has been shown to provide benefit to the management of stress in many healing professions across domains, but is seldom considered a component of the military transition process. The purpose of this grounded theory inquiry was to develop a grounded theory of how spirituality is viewed as a factor in the perceived stress of United States active-duty military members during the process of transitioning to civilian life, to build understanding of how spirituality could be used to lower stress throughout the process. Data was collected from semi-structure interviews of fifteen transition/transitioning service members, and was then analyzed using constant comparison to identify applicable codes, themes, and concepts. The resulting grounded theory is that spirituality is viewed by U.S. active duty military members as a beneficial factor on stress during (and following) the transition process. Implications of this study include the likely benefit of further research on what aspects of spirituality help this population, potential benefit in creating a spirituality-exploring protocol, and the potential benefit of implementing logotherapy into military transition programs.
Recommended Citation
Dennis, Garrik PhD, "Grounded Theory of Spiritual Factors of Stress of the Military to Civilian Transition" (2025). Dissertations. 1.
https://repository.belmont.edu/mhc_dissertations/1
