Parent–child attachment during the deployment cycle: Impact on reintegration parenting stress.

Abstract

Military families with young children face unique psychological and relational challenges during reintegration because of attachment disruption. This can increase psychological stress for service members. We examined three phases of the deployment cycle: predeployment, deployment, and reinte gration to reveal risk and resilience factors that may impede or promote attachment relationships. We also explored the impact of predeployment preparation and deployment communication on service members' parenting stress at reintegration. We conducted (N = 30) semistructured interviews with fathers who were deployed within 2 years of the study, and whose youngest child was 6 years old or younger during the deployment. We found that military fathers whose families did not have preparation strategies for maintaining father-child relationship during the deployment experienced more parenting stress after the deployment than did fathers whose families did use preparation strategies. All participants reportedly communicated with their children during deployment, although number of communication methods did not predict later parenting stress. The most common reintegration experiences were described as an adjustment period, parental stress, and time off of work. Strategies for building attachment as a means of promoting resilience throughout the deployment cycle are identified and discussed.

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

“…For example, Barker and Berry (2009) instructed parents to recall their children's behavior "before deployment," although the length of time preceding deployment was not specified in their instructions (in contrast, the comparison group of nondeployed families was asked to recall the prior 3 months). Other studies examined the postdeployment phase, periods referred to as "reunion" (Barker & Berry, 2009), "reintegration" (Louie & Cromer, 2014;Willerton et al, 2011), and "reunification" (Flake et al, 2009;Walsh et al, 2014). However, with the exception of Gewirtz et al (2010) who included a time frame of 1 year after deployment, "postdeployment period" was not operationalized.…”

“…Several described parents' fears that their children would forget them while deployed, their distress when children worried for their safety, and apprehension about childcare arrangements during deployment (Everson et al, 2013;Scannell-Desch & Doherty, 2013;Willerton et al, 2011). Five studies examined parenting challenges faced by military fathers' postdeployment Lee et al, 2013;Louie & Cromer, 2014;Walsh et al, 2014;Willerton et al, 2011). Reintegration concerns raised by these fathers included discomfort asking for parenting advice from their spouse or partner, difficulties reconnecting emotionally with their children after deployment, reticence to discipline their children, and struggling to communicate positively with their spouse and children (Dayton et Willerton et al, 2011).…”

“…Six studies examined service members' parenting concerns associated with their deployment Lee et al, 2013;Louie & Cromer, 2014;Scannell-Desch & Doherty, 2013;Walsh et al, 2014;Willerton et al, 2011). Several described parents' fears that their children would forget them while deployed, their distress when children worried for their safety, and apprehension about childcare arrangements during deployment (Everson et al, 2013;Scannell-Desch & Doherty, 2013;Willerton et al, 2011).…”

“…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.…”

“…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. Finally, there was wide variation in the types of mental health indicators examined including couple functioning (Allen et al, 2011;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014a, family functioning (Everson et al, 2013), parenting stress (Chartrand et al, 2008;Flake et al, 2009;Louie & Cromer, 2014), psychotropic medication use (Larson et al, 2012), "life contentment" and "sense of coherence" (Everson et al, 2013), parenting concerns (Everson et al, 2013;Gewirtz et al, 2014a), marital concerns (Allen et al, 2011;Gewirtz et al, 2010Gewirtz et al, , 2014a, and depressive symptoms (Chartrand et al, 2008), thus making it difficult to directly compare results across studies.…”