Family adjustment of deployed and nondeployed mothers in families with a parent deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Abstract

Almost nothing is known about the family and individual adjustment of military mothers who have deployed to the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan (Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn; OIF, OEF, OND), constituting a gap in psychologists’ knowledge about how best to help this population. We report baseline data on maternal, child, parenting, and couple adjustment for mothers in 181 families in which a parent deployed to OIF/OEF/OND. Among this sample, 34 mothers had deployed at least once, and 147 mothers had experienced the deployment of a male spouse/partner. Mothers completed self-report questionnaires assessing past year adverse life events, war experiences (for deployed mothers only), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression symptoms, difficulties in emotion regulation, parenting, couple adjustment, and child functioning. Mothers who had deployed reported greater distress than non-deployed mothers (higher scores on measures of PTSD and depression symptoms), and slightly more past year adverse events. A moderate number of war experiences (combat and post-battle aftermath events) were reported, consistent with previous studies of women in current and prior conflicts. However, no differences were found between the two groups on measures of couple adjustment, parenting, or child functioning. Results are discussed in terms of the dearth of knowledge about deployed mothers, and implications for psychologists serving military families.

Impact of deployment on military families with young children: A systematic review

“…Overall, more frequent and lengthier deployments appear to be associated with greater levels of parent stress and depressive symptoms (Barker & Berry, 2009;Chartrand et al, 2008;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), poorer family or couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Cozza et al, 2010;Gewirtz et al, 2010), poorer general wellbeing Everson et al, 2013), and greater use of mental health services for the military spouse (Larson et al, 2012). Mental health problems were particularly high among military spouses raising young children alone during deployment periods (Barker & Berry, 2009).…”

“…Nine studies examined the associations between deployment and indicators of parent distress, family functioning, and spouses' health care utilization (Allen et al, 2011;Chartrand et al, 2008;Cozza et al, 2010;Everson et al, 2013;Flake et al, 2009;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014aLarson et al, 2012;Wilson et al, 2014). Overall, more frequent and lengthier deployments appear to be associated with greater levels of parent stress and depressive symptoms (Barker & Berry, 2009;Chartrand et al, 2008;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), poorer family or couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Cozza et al, 2010;Gewirtz et al, 2010), poorer general wellbeing Everson et al, 2013), and greater use of mental health services for the military spouse (Larson et al, 2012).…”

“…Six studies included both service members and their spouses or partners (Allen et al, 2011;Gewirtz et al, 2010;Kelley et al, 2006;Ross & DeVoe, 2014;Wilson et al, 2011Wilson et al, , 2014. One study (Gewirtz et al, 2014a) compared family adjustment among military mothers, 19% of whom were also service members who had been deployed. In sum, there was diversity in the military branches represented among the families studied, but overall, there was limited gender diversity within the adult family member groups being studied (i.e., service members were predominantly fathers; spouses and partners were predominantly mothers).…”

“…In addition, concerns about stigma might lead respondents to underreport their mental health symptoms. Second, only seven studies employed standardized measures with clinical cut points for estimating mental health problems (Allen et al, 2011;Chartrand et al, 2008;Everson et al, 2013;Flake et al, 2009;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014aLouie & Cromer, 2014). Using population norms to identify proportions of the sample with mental health symptoms in the "clinical range" can indicate whether these family members may require treatment from a mental health provider or if their symptoms could be more cost-effectively addressed through psychoeducation and support.…”

Military Mothers

“…Behavioural changes in children due to separation can translate into anxiety and depressive symptomatology in mothers via concerns for their child's wellbeing (Mofrad et al, 2009;Kaitz et al, 2010). This may explain the elevated levels of parenting stress and sensitivity to offspring observed amongst US deployed mothers (Kelly Herzog-Simmer & Harris, 1994), in addition to greater distress, PTSD and depression, compared to those who were not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan (Gewirtz et al, 2014).…”