Poster #21 - Military Families with Young Children: Understanding and Supporting Their Post-Deployment Experiences

• In Event: Poster Session 16

Abstract

Military family research has mostly focused on the period where service members are away from their families. Yet, it is the reintegration period that has been identified by these families as the most challenging part of the deployment cycle (Yablonsky et al., 2016). Military families with young children may face unique psychological and relational challenges during reintegration because of the profound development that occurs during the first five years of a child’s life (Louie & Cromer, 2014). However, little is known about the reintegration experiences of military families with young children, and less so from families outside of the US. Without knowing what challenges these families face during reintegration, we are not able to most effectively support them in practice and policy.

We conducted two studies with Australian Defence Force (ADF) families with young children (five years and younger). The first study aimed to develop a richer understanding of the post-deployment experiences of ADF families to identify intervention targets that would improve outcomes for families during reintegration. ADF service members (n=9) and their non-deployed spouses (n=38) reflected on periods of reintegration and discussed their family’s adaption during this time in written responses to open-ended survey prompts. Using thematic analysis, six themes representing the reintegration experiences of these families were generated from the data (see Table 1 for overview). Relational and parenting challenges were underscored across the six themes. Overall, the data highlighted that (1) ADF families experience a range of stressors related to the reintegration process that were not currently recognized or supported, and (2) ADF families need support post-deployment primarily to rebuild parent-child relationships, manage challenging emotions, and reconnect as a family. Challenges identified by ADF families pointed towards potential value in interventions that combine mindfulness, behavioral parenting training, and real-time coaching.

Our second study aimed to pilot a new intervention to examine whether it was effective for improving the quality of parent-child relationships and enhancing outcomes for ADF families during reintegration. Two ADF families (recruited from the first study), one with a child aged two and the other aged four, participated in the Coaching and Parent Emotion Support Program (CaPES). CaPES is a 12-week, play-based, whole-of-family intervention that uses real time play coaching and integrates behavioral parent training with mindfulness, mentalization, and emotional regulation skills. Data assessing parent wellbeing and mental health, parenting, and child emotion and behavior variables were gathered pre- and post-intervention. Parent-child interaction and child behavior data were also gathered during each intervention session. Findings from the case series demonstrated (a) an improvement in parent-child relationship quality, mindful parenting skills, parental wellbeing and stress, parenting self-efficacy, and child internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and (b) preliminary support for the potential of CaPES as an intervention to enhance outcomes for military families during reintegration.

Our two studies advance developmental science by providing deeper insight into the experiences of ADF families with young children and demonstrating preliminary evidence that CaPES ameliorates the negative impacts of military deployment and relationship disruption on families, which otherwise have long-lasting, life-altering consequences.

Authors

• Alixandra Risi, University of Wollongong
  Presenting Author

• Amy Bird, University of Auckland

• Judy A Pickard