Poster #32 - The Role of Self Regulation in Moderating Risk over the Course of Deployment in Military-Affiliated Children

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

Following parental deployment, children in military families are at risk for negative emotional and behavioral outcomes, thought to be due to lengthy paternal separation, increased familial stressors, and maternal depression. Self regulation has been proposed as a mechanism of resilience in the face of increased familial stress. In this study, we sought to examine the potentially moderating role of effortful control on changes in children’s socio-emotional adaptation across the beginning of their fathers’ military deployment.
Participants in this study included 60 Active Duty United States Marine Corps families with children between the ages of 4 and 7 years old (M = 5.6 years, SD = 10 months; 47% girls). The current study is part of a larger longitudinal study that followed families over the course of pre- to post-deployment time points to examine the impact of deployment on family adjustment. Prior to their spouse’s deployment, mothers completed questionnaires regarding their own depressive symptoms (i.e. CESD). Three months into deployment mothers also rated their children’s internalizing difficulties (i.e. CBCL). Prior to their own deployments, Service Members’ also rated their chidren’s internalizing difficulties (i.e. CBCL). In addition, researchers observed and coded children’s self regulation prior to the deployment in completing a timed “impossible” puzzle task.
Regression analyses examined whether observational ratings of self regulation moderated the association between pre-deployment maternal depressive affect and children’s mid-deployment internalizing symptoms, controlling for children’s pre-deployment internalizing symptoms. While findings indicated a direct effect of both pre-deployment maternal depression and observational ratings of self regulation in the prediction of children’s mid-deployment internalizing symptoms, the interaction of these two factors was also significant indicating the moderating effect of observed self regulation on maternal depression in the prediction of children’s mid-deployment depression, B=.61, F(1, 50) = 3.891, p < .05. Examination of the simple slopes indicated, that high levels of self regulation moderated the effect of mother’s elevated depression (i.e. b= -.06, t=-.21, ns) whereas children with low and moderate levels of self regulation were at greater risk for depressive affect (i.e. b=1.03, t = 2.55, p < .05 and b= .66, t=2.55, p < .05 respectively) over the early months of deployment (See Figure 1).
These findings further our understanding of the impact of parent and child factors that may contribute to child adaptation over the course of deployment. Whereas the parent-separations, household disruptions, and family difficulties that characterize deployment may contribute to child adjustment in important ways, the findings of this study echo the vast literature that has highlighted the association of maternal depression with decreases in child well-being. Notably the findings of this study also suggest the importance of self regulation within the context of military children and deployment in buffering the potential negative influence of maternal depression. These findings have important implications for prevention and intervention suggesting that children with better self regulation are at decreased risk for negative outcomes. Self regulation may be an important factor in developing resilience in children.

Authors

• Natalie Lamport
  Presenting Author

• Julie Wargo Aikins, Wayne State University

• Deane Aikins, Wayne State University