Views from the Homefront: The Experiences of Youth and Spouses from Military Families

Communication, Coping, and Connections: Campers’ and Parents’ Perspectives of Self-Efficacy and Benefits of Participation in Deployment Support Camps

“…Maternal support has been shown to be a protective factor for adjustment for youth in military families (Morris & Age, 2009), and it is reasonable to assume that peers may also be a resource for support. Our results align with others who have noted the positive impact of the social connectedness youth feel with other military youth (Chandra et al, 2011;Easterbrooks et al, 2013;Ferrari & Leonard, 2007;Huebner & Mancini, 2005;Mmari, Bradshaw, Sudhinaraset, & Blum, 2010). This sense of belonging also occurs in other camps with condition-specific audiences (Roberson, 2010).…”

Boundary Ambiguity and Ambivalence in Military Family Reintegration

“…After the physical reunion of service member and family, there is often a brief period of euphoria while the family simply enjoys being with the service member again and can finally relax knowing he or she is safe (Drummet, Coleman, & Cable, 2003;MacDermid, 2006). Spouses will frequently see improvements in their well-being and a reduction in emotional difficulties during this time (Chandra et al, 2011). However, these effects may not apply to the children in the family, whose emotional difficulties such as irritability, worry, and sadness may persist for an extended period (Chandra et al, 2011); these authors speculate it may take longer for similar improvements in youth to be observed.…”

“…Spouses will frequently see improvements in their well-being and a reduction in emotional difficulties during this time (Chandra et al, 2011). However, these effects may not apply to the children in the family, whose emotional difficulties such as irritability, worry, and sadness may persist for an extended period (Chandra et al, 2011); these authors speculate it may take longer for similar improvements in youth to be observed. Within a few months of the return of the service member, and with the passing of the initial honeymoon period, the family may find themselves struggling to adapt as the extent of the changes undergone by all family members during deployment begins to emerge.…”

“…and adjusting yet again to one another if all are aware of an actual or even the possibility of an upcoming deployment (Chandra et al, 2011). Thus, as mentioned earlier, ambivalence may result when ambiguity exists around one's functional presence in either the military or family system.…”

Building a National Culture of Health: Background, Action Framework, Measures, and Next Steps

“…xiii Our process for developing the action framework and translating the conceptual frame of the Culture of Health into something operational leveraged a schema used by members of the study team in developing both community resilience and civic well-being operational frameworks (Chandra et al, 2011;City of Santa Monica, 2015). We used a combination of literature review, structured discussion with experts, and other stakeholder engagement to guide development of the operational action framework ( Figure S.2).…”