Publication year
2002
Citation Title
"Out of sight" but not "out of mind": Parent contact and worry among senior ranking male officers in the military who live long distances from parents.
Journal Name
Military Psychology
Journal Volume
14
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
357-277
DOI
10.1207/S15327876MP1404_3
Summary
Service members who live far away from their aging parents may have high levels of worry about their parents health and well-being, especially if military duties make in-person contact rare. Characteristics of senior military officers, their parents, and their family interactions, officers worry about their parents, and frequency of parent contact were examined. Officers contacted their parents often and family dynamics, rather than worry about parent well-being, may be more predictive of contact.
Key Findings
Senior military officers had frequent contact with their parents, with 40% contacting them one or more times per week and 80% contacting them at least once per month.
Officers with fewer siblings and a better parent relationship contacted their parents more often.
Officers’ worry about their parents was not associated with greater frequency of contact.
Officers who worried about their parents more had older parents, parents with a history of illness, higher levels of anger, lower satisfaction with their parent care plan, and fewer siblings.
Implications for Program Leaders
Educate Service members about how to talk to their aging parents about a care plan and what should be included in an elder care plan
Offer workshops on emotion regulation for Service members, including skills to manage anxiety and anger and to deal with stressors
Disseminate information and resources to military families about how to care for aging parents
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend education for professionals working with military families about the stress and worry surrounding caring for aging parents long-distance
Encourage availability of time off for Service members to visit aging and ill parents
Promote programs that would allow aging parents to live with and be cared for by military families if desired
Methods
Two cohorts of male, Active Duty senior military officers with at least one living parent were recruited (92% response rate) during assessments and screenings at a military leadership school from 1997-1998.
Officers were surveyed about their history of life stressors and personality traits, their parents’ age and health, and their family’s frequency of contact, number of siblings, and parent care plan.
The relationships between officer, parent, and family characteristics, officers’ worry about their parents, and officers’ frequency of contact with parents were examined.
Participants
Participants included 277 male, Active Duty senior military officers, 40-49 years of age, who were in the Army (82%), Air Force (9%), Navy (6%), and Marines (3%); no data on race or ethnicity were provided.
Most officers were married (98%) and had children (92%).
Almost all officer’s parents were living independently, and about 70% had a parent care plan.
Limitations
Women, who traditionally assume caregiving roles, were not included in the sample, limiting generalizability.
Due to the cross-sectional nature of the study, there is no clear evidence of the direction of effects between officer, parent, or family characteristics and worry or contact frequency.
The role of officer’s wives in parent caregiving is an important variable that may have influenced results.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine the differences in associations between worry about aging parents, caregiver responsibility and role, and contact frequency between male and female Service members
Compare frequency of parent contact and levels of worry about aging parents between groups of civilians and Service members who live long distances from parents
Explore how the impact of parent health and worry about parents may influence Service members’ job performance, including during deployment
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
This study explores variables that influence worry and parent contact among senior military officers who face frequent moves, restricted housing, and overseas assignments, and who have been geographically separated from their parents most of their adult lives. Data on predictors of officer worry and parent contacts were collected from 277 senior ranking male officers (40 to 49 years old). A structural equation model of worry and parent contact among male officers showed that previous parental illness, parent’s age, and the tendency among officers to have an angry temperament increased their worry. Conversely, number of siblings and satisfaction with a “parent care plan” decreased worry about parents. Number of siblings also decreased contact with parents. Quality of interpersonal relationships and branch of service (Army and Marine Corps) increased contacts with parents. This research underscores the importance of examining the invisible “anguish” of adult sons who are precluded from visiting their parents by distance or employment situations, lends quantitative support to previous qualitative findings, and indicates that satisfaction with a realistic parent care plan reduces worries about elderly parents.
Abstract Document
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