Publication year
2018
Citation Title
Strong military families intervention enhances parenting reflectivity and representations in families with young children.
Journal Name
Infant Mental Health Journal
Journal Volume
39
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
106-118
DOI
10.1002/imhj.21690
Summary
Military parents with young children may benefit from interventions that aim to improve their parenting practice. This study examined the effectiveness of the Strong Military Families intervention by assessing 78 caregivers' parenting reflectivity (i.e., a parent's ability to reflect on the child's thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and motivations) and parenting representations (i.e., a parent's perception of his/her child and their relationship) before and after the intervention. Results indicated that compared to the waiting-list comparison group, participants in the intervention group showed improved parenting practice.
Key Findings
Neither parenting reflectivity nor parenting representation differed between Service members and civilians, or between fathers and mothers.
Approximately 70% of participants reported the same parenting reflectivity and parenting representation styles from pre-test to post-test, regardless of the intervention type.
Compared to the comparison group, participants in the multifamily group showed improvements in both parenting representation and parenting reflectivity.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups for military parents with young children to facilitate their support of each other
Disseminate information regarding evidence-based good parenting practice and parenting skills to military families
Provide parenting workshops for military families, especially the ones that are struggling with military-related stressors (e.g., deployment, relocation)
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage the development of parenting programs that aim to improve military parents' parenting practice
Recommend that all Service members with young children be offered parenting classes
Recommend education of professionals who work with military families on how to teach parents positive parenting skills
Methods
Participants were recruited by flyers, contacts at community events, or referrals from military family service agencies.
Participants were divided into two groups: the multifamily group (n = 33) and the waiting-list comparison group (n = 45).
Each participant was assessed prior to the intervention and again two months after intervention. Measures assessed the following constructs: parenting representations and parenting reflectivity.
Data were analyzed to examine the difference between the multifamily group and the waiting-list comparison group in parenting representations and reflectivity.
Participants
Participants were 78 caregivers of children under the age of seven years old in military families; 46 of them were mothers, 29 of them were fathers, and three were grandparents. The average age of the participants was not reported.
About half of the participants were Service members; however, their military branches were not reported.
Most participants were White (78%) or Latino (10%); the race/ethnicity of the remaining 12% of participants was not reported.
Limitations
The participants were not randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, so caution must be taken to examine the group differences.
Three of the participants were grandparents; therefore, their results may not apply to parents.
The study was based on self-report data, so results of the study may be subject to social-desirability bias.
Avenues for Future Research
Randomly assign participants to the intervention and control groups to examine the relationship between intervention and parenting practice
Conduct longitudinal studies to investigate the long-term effect of the intervention
Explore the effect of the intervention on other aspects of parenting practice (e.g., parenting skills)
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
Military families face many challenges due to deployment and parental separation, and this can be especially difficult for families with young children. The Strong Military Families (SMF) intervention is for military families with young children, and consists of two versions: the Multifamily Group, and a Home-based psychoeducational written materials program. The Multifamily Group was designed to enhance positive parenting through both educational components and in vivo feedback and support during separations and reunions between parents and children (n = 78 parents). In the present study, we examine parenting reflectivity and mental representations in mothers versus fathers in military families, service members versus civilian spouses/parenting partners, and before versus after participation in the SMF Multifamily Group and Home-based interventions. Parenting reflectivity and mental representations were coded from the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI; C.H. Zeanah & D. Benoit, 1995). Results suggest that neither parenting reflectivity nor WMCI typology differs between mothers and fathers in military families, or between service members and civilian parenting partners. Furthermore, there was substantial stability in parenting reflectivity and WMCI typology from baseline to posttest, but participation in the Multifamily Group, relative to Home-based, was associated with improvements in both parenting reflectivity and WMCI ratings
from baseline to postintervention.
from baseline to postintervention.
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