Publication year
2014
Citation Title
Promoting parenting to support reintegrating military families: After deployment, adaptive parenting tools.
Journal Name
Psychological Services
Journal Volume
11
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
31Ð40
DOI
10.1037/a0034134
Summary
The After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) program is a 14-week group-based, Web-enhanced parenting training intervention. In this article, researchers report early feasibility (recruitment, retention) and acceptability (participant satisfaction, positive group experience, home practice satisfaction) data for the first cohort of families participating in the ADAPT program. Results indicate that participation and satisfaction with the program was high.
Key Findings
Seventy-eight percent of families assigned to the intervention came to at least one session; 79% attended at least 50% of the weekly, two hour sessions.
More frequent attendance at in-person group sessions was associated with more frequent use of most of the related online material.
Participants reported being quite satisfied with every group session (average was 3.3 on a scale from 0 to 4).
Group attendance did not differ by gender (fathers and mothers attended), or by deployment status (deployed and civilian parents attended).
Implications for Program Leaders
Promote military father involvement in parenting programs by providing parenting tools specifically for fathers
Encourage engagement by designing curricula that reflect military values such as commitment, structure, clarity, routines, and protocols
Frame interventions as prevention or health promotion efforts (versus mental health treatment) and by delivering such interventions in community settings (community center, church, etc.) to encourage participation
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support the development and evaluation of programs supporting military families
Recommend continued research focus on engaging both parents in feasible, acceptable interventions may be useful
Encourage collaboration between DoD and community-based parenting programs so that military families can get military and non-military affiliated support
Methods
Families randomized to services-as-usual (control) were sent print (tip sheets) and online parenting resources.
Families randomized to the intervention did not differ from controls on the basis of marital status, income, number of children in the home, education, employment, race, or ethnicity.
Participants had to have at least one child living with them who was between four and 12 years, and have at least one parent who had recently deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Participants
Thirty-three families (66 military-affiliated parents) participated in the intervention.
The majority of participants were female (52%) and White (89%). Age of participants was not reported.
This study focused on Service members in the National Guard and Reserves (69% enlisted, 31% officers).
Limitations
The small sample of Midwestern, primarily National Guard families limits generalizability.
Participants may differ from non-participants in a way that was not measured, but affected the outcome variables (e.g., those who responded may represent highly committed parents).
The wide variability in attendance and home practice completion makes it unclear which components of the program might be core in predicting engagement and outcomes.
Avenues for Future Research
Replicate this study in a larger, more demographically diverse sample including Service members from other branches and components of the military
Explore the components of the intervention that best predict engagement
Test associations between participation and specific parenting outcomes
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
The high operational tempo of the current conflicts and the unprecedented reliance on National Guard and Reserve forces highlights the need for services to promote reintegration efforts for those transitioning back to civilian family life. Despite evidence that parenting has significant influence on children's functioning, and that parenting may be impaired during stressful family transitions, there is a dearth of empirically supported psychological interventions tailored for military families reintegrating after deployment. This article reports on the modification of an empirically supported parenting intervention for families in which a parent has deployed to war. A theoretical rationale for addressing parenting during reintegration after deployment is discussed. We describe the intervention, After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT), and report early feasibility and acceptability data from a randomized controlled effectiveness trial of ADAPT, a 14-week group-based, Web-enhanced parenting training program. Among the first 42 families assigned to the intervention group, participation rates were high, and equal among mothers and fathers. Satisfaction was high across all 14 sessions. Implications for psychological services to military families dealing with the deployment process are discussed.
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