Publication year
2017
Citation Title
Exploring the deployment and reintegration experiences of active duty military families with young children.
Journal Name
Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment
DOI
10.1080/10911359.2017.1339653
Summary
Deployment and reintegration impact the way a military family functions, both with the temporary loss of a member and eventual readjustment upon return. This study examined the experience of the deployment cycle from the perspective of military spouses with young children. They found common themes for military families with young children in challenges encountered during deployment and reintegration, difficulty accessing resources, and coping strategies utilized to successfully navigate this time period.
Key Findings
Challenges encountered by families with young children during deployment include social isolation, managing significant life events and children's behaviors without Service members, communication with Service members, providing age-appropriate information to children, and making parenting decisions alone.
Challenges encountered by families with young children during reintegration post-deployment include the non-deployed spouse having difficulty letting go of control, navigating co-parenting and parenting roles, and negotiating the Service member's household routine.
Barriers to utilizing resources include lack of awareness of resources; resources only being offered on the military installation; lack of affordable, flexible childcare; and stigma associated with accessing resources.
Strengths and coping strategies families with young children used during deployment include gaining social support, reaching out for help, staying busy, having a routine, leaving the house regularly, mapping the location of the Service member for children, and visiting family and friends.
Implications for Program Leaders
Enhance current social service referral networks for military families to include non-military community resources
Offer workshops on strategies for resilience during deployment and reintegration for military families with young children, emphasizing the importance of social networks, routine, and realistic expectations for all family members
Offer home-based or online social and emotional support services for military families with young children experiencing deployment and reintegration in order to increase access
Implications for Policy Makers
Increase access to affordable, flexible childcare services when support events are held for military spouses
Recommend partnerships between military-based and community-based programs to increase access to relevant social services for military families with young children, especially those that do not live on military installations
Recommend the training of professionals who work with military families with young children to better identify and address challenges these families will experience during deployment and reintegration
Methods
A mothers' group on a military installation was contacted and additional participants were recruited through the participants from the mothers' group.
To recruit service providers, the authors contacted social service agencies on the military installation and distributed electronic flyers via email and social media.
Both groups of participants engaged in a semi-structured interview in person or via telephone.
Data were analyzed by establishing evaluation objectives and linking similar themes together.
Participants
Participants included 19 female spouses of Active Duty U.S. Marine Corps Service members (one of these interviews included the male Service member) and 10 professionals who provided social services to Active Duty families.
All military spouse participants had at least one child under the age of five years old and had experienced a deployment in the past year or were currently experiencing one.
No further demographic data was provided for the military participants, their children, or the service providers.
Limitations
The small size of the sample and use of a convenience sample rather than a random or representative sample limits the generalizability of the results to the larger Active Duty military family population.
The authors report the sample was not very diverse; given there was no demographic data provided, it is unclear how limited the diversity of the samples were and to which groups this study might be applied.
The intent of the study was to explore the experiences of military families with young children, however the Service member was interviewed in only one of the families studied, so only the non-deployed spouses' experiences are examined. Service members may have different perspectives on challenges and coping through deployment and reintegration.
Avenues for Future Research
Repeat this study with a larger, representative sample, and provide demographic data
Engage Service members in the interview process regarding the experience of families with young children during deployment and reintegration
A longitudinal study with multiple interview times during the deployment cycle may provide a more complete picture of the various challenges encountered at different timepoints
Focus
Marines
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Active duty military families are experiencing increased stress as service members deploy to and return from lengthy and repeated deployments to multiple war zones. These deployments have a cumulative impact on the behavioral health and well-being of not only the service member, but also the family, particularly in families with very young children (Lester et al., 2016). Emergent research concerning families with young suggests that greater attention to the military spouse is needed to ensure effective, supportive service provision for these families. The purpose of the present study is threefold: (1) to identify the challenges faced by families with young children during and after deployment, (2) to understand resource utilization by these families, and (3) to explore the strengths and strategies used during these experiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 19 active duty Marine Corps family members with young children (under 5 years old) and 10 key program providers on or near a large military base in the southeast region of the United States. Findings reveal significant social isolation, which is consistent with the literature, the need for formal and informal social supports as well as self-care for the at-home parent, challenges in co-parenting and utilizing known resources, and a range of strategies used to manage deployment and reintegration. Implications for practice are discussed.
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