Publication year
2014
Citation Title
Parent-child attachment during the deployment cycle: Impact on reintegration parenting stress
Journal Name
Professional Psychology: Research and Practice
Journal Volume
45
Issue Number
6
Page Numbers
496-503
DOI
10.1037/a0036603
Summary
Service members face high demands that can be a burden on military families with young children. This study examined how Service members prepare their young children for the deployment period and discovered common themes across multiple branches of their approaches to preparation. Themes that included attachment-focused preparation, information-focused preparation, and paying it forward with things such as spending more time together before deployment.
Key Findings
The most common preparation was information-focused, in which Service members talked about deployment with their children, regardless of the children’s age, which was used by half of the participants.
During deployment, 80% of participants used video calling to talk with their children
During reintegration, 87% of participants expressed the need to get reacquainted with their children.
Implications for Program Leaders
Educate Service members on developmentally appropriate ways to prepare their young children for parental deployment
Promote parent-child attachment by facilitating bonding experiences to increase resilience in family members
Support Service members during reintegration by offering resources to help reduce parental stress during the adjustment period
Implications for Policy Makers
Promote education of community providers on how to prepare Service members for deployment when they have young children
Continue to support Service members who have young children throughout the deployment cycle
Recommend professionals be equipped to support Service members during reintegration, specifically when they need to become reacquainted with their roles as parents
Methods
Researchers recruited participants from the Midwest in-person on military bases and via email.
Data were collected through self-report measures and interviews that were conducted in-person and by phone.
Self-report measures were rated on a five point scale and three coders identified themes in the responses from the interviews.
Participants
Participants of this study included 30 military fathers from the Air Force (80%), Navy (7%), and Army (13%) who had a child 6 years old or younger.
The mean age of the fathers was 30.97 years (SD = 4.49) and their children had a mean age of 2.71 years (SD = 4.49).
The racial background of the participants consisted of 83% White, 10% Black, and 7% other races.
Limitations
The information provided was based on male Service members only and did not consider the female Service member’s experience as a parent preparing her child during pre-deployment.
Service members gave retrospective reports on their deployment experiences and this may not be an accurate representation of the actual deployment experience.
Researchers recorded the prevalence of the pre-deployment preparation methods used by Service members but did not examine the relative efficacy of the different methods.
Avenues for Future Research
Investigate how the differences among military branches and rank play a role in families’ experiences
Evaluate participants across multiple deployments to examine how their approach to deployment preparation may change
Focus on the children’s perspective during pre-deployment to investigate what the best way is to help them cope during their parent’s deployment
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
Military families with young children face unique psychological and relational challenges during reintegration because of attachment disruption. This can increase psychological stress for service members. We examined three phases of the deployment cycle: predeployment, deployment, and reintegration to reveal risk and resilience factors that may impede or promote attachment relationships. We also explored the impact of predeployment preparation and deployment communication on service members’ parenting stress at reintegration. We conducted (N = 30) semistructured interviews with fathers who were deployed within 2 years of the study, and whose youngest child was 6 years old or younger during the deployment. We found that military fathers whose families did not have preparation strategies for maintaining father_child relationship during the deployment experienced more parenting stress after the deployment than did fathers whose families did use preparation strategies. All participants reportedly communicated with their children during deployment, although number of communication methods did not predict later parenting stress. The most common reintegration experiences were described as an adjustment period, parental stress, and time off of work. Strategies for building attachment as a means of promoting resilience throughout the deployment cycle are identified and discussed.
Abstract Document
PRTW Document
Attach