parents’ perceptions of youth’s sibling relationships across the course of a parent’s military deployment. Participants included 109 families with at least two siblings (older sibling and younger siblings age: M = 10.85, SD = 3.92 and M = 7.89, SD = 3.58, respectively) and one parent serving in the National Guard. Data were collected via in-home interviews, at six time points across the deployment cycle.”
youth
Ultra-rapid development and deployment of a family resilience program during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned from Families Tackling Tough Times Together (2020)
“The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic brought uncertainty, anxiety, and stress into households; however, it also created an opportunity as many families, sequestered at home, found themselves spending much more time together. To support families and improve their ability to cope, recover, and build resilience amid the pandemic, Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences (HHS) launched Families Tackling Tough Times Together (FT), a strength-based multi-week online program informed by scientific evidence about family resilience.”
Re-specifying adolescent non-normative role behavior experiences with military deployment (2020)
“The ideal that youth carry out roles and responsibilities in their families appears age old. There are some family socio-cultural contexts that are said to destabilize the patterns of interactions that govern a family system, engendering an inappropriate overlap in sub-systems creating opportunities for youth to perform caregiving activities traditionally meant for other members of the family unit (Minuchin, 1974).”
Changes in parenting and youth adjustment across the military deployment cycle (2018)
“This study examined how changes in at-home parents’ mental health and parenting practices related to changes in their children’s adjustment throughout the course of a service members’ military deployment. Participants included at-home parents from 114 National Guard families who were interviewed at four different occasions across the deployment cycle.”
Help seeking by parents in military families on behalf of their young children (2015)
MFRI contributing authors studied military family help-seeking activities with regard to children’s problems. Specifically, they examined emotional and behavioral problems in children younger than 10 years old. In general, the study found parents knew about these problems.
Evaluation of a multimedia intervention for children and families facing multiple military deployments (2015)
This study evaluated the impact of Talk, Listen, Connect: Multiple Deployments (TLC-II MD), a multimedia kit created by Sesame Workshop specifically for military families experiencing multiple deployments.
Psychological health of military children: Longitudinal evaluation of a family-centered prevention program to enhance family resilience (2013)
This study evaluates the impact of Families Overcoming Under Stress Family Resilience Training (FOCUS), on the psychological adjustment of military children. The two primary goals of this article are to understand the relationships of distress among family members and to determine pathways of program impact on child adjustment.
Understanding and supporting the resilience of a new generation of combat-exposed military families and their children (2013)
Taking our nation to war has exposed a generation of military families and children to combat and its consequences. Every dollar spent on bullets, trucks, fuel and food carried a future ‘tax’ in the form of consequences for psychological and physical health and family relationships. In this commentary, I focus on several themes that emerge from the special collection or articles.
Helping children and families reconnect after a military deployment (2011)
MFRI, in cooperation with the Indiana National Guard, created “Passport Towards Success,” a program designed to strengthen communication skills that help children and families reconnect following a parent’s military deployment. This article summarizes findings from the program’s evaluation.
Passport Toward Success: Description and evaluation of a program designed to help children and families reconnect after a military deployment (2011)
This article evaluates Passport Toward Success, a program that rotates children whose military parent has recently returned from deployment through three interactive stations. The children practice skills related to coping with stress, problem-solving and discussing feelings along with similar-age peers.