Family Communication Patterns and Adolescent Experiences During Parental Military Deployment and Reintegration: The Role of Inappropriate Parental Disclosures and Perceived Family Understanding

Family communication patterns in military families can have a significant impact on family resilience and military readiness. This study investigated adolescents' adjustment in military families during parental deployment and reintegration. The family communication patterns explored included: conformity orientation (i.e., a focus on hierarchy, obedience, and similar beliefs as parents), conversation orientation (i.e., conversational openness about a wide array of topics among all family members), and adolescents' perception of their families' understanding of their experiences.