Military children's difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective
Research Report:
Research SummaryAPA Citation:
Knobloch, L. K., Knobloch-Fedders, L. M., Yorgason, J. B., Ebata, A. T., & McGlaughlin, P. C (2017). Military children’s difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective. Journal of Family Psychology, 31(5), 542-552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000299
Abstract Created by REACH:
Various aspects of couples' relationships can affect their children in different ways. To better understand how certain aspects within military couples' relationships impact their children after reintegration, couples were surveyed on topics that included depressive symptoms, relationship uncertainty, interference from a partner, and on the difficulties their oldest child had during reintegration. Results suggest parents' difficulties with reintegration are associated with the eldest child's reintegration difficulties.
Focus:
Children
Couples
Deployment
Mental health
Parents
Youth
Branch of Service:
Army
Air Force
Marine Corps
Multiple branches
Military Affiliation:
Active Duty
Guard
Reserve
Subject Affiliation:
Active duty service member
Child of a service member or veteran
Military families
Spouse of service member or veteran
Guard/Reserve member
Population:
Childhood (birth - 12 yrs)
Neonatal (birth - 1 mo)
Infancy (2 - 23 mo)
Preschool age (2 -5 yrs)
School age (6 - 12 yrs)
Adolescence (13 - 17 yrs)
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Methodology:
Empirical Study
Longitudinal Study
Quantitative Study
Authors:
Knobloch, Leanne K., Knobloch-Fedders, Lynne M., Yorgason, Jeremy B., Ebata, Aaron T., McGlaughlin, Patricia C.
Abstract:
This study drew on the relational turbulence model to investigate how the interpersonal dynamics of military couples predict parents' reports of the reintegration difficulty of military children upon homecoming after deployment. Longitudinal data were collected from 118 military couples once per month for 3 consecutive months after reunion. Military couples reported on their depressive symptoms, characteristics of their romantic relationship, and the reintegration difficulty of their oldest child. Results of dyadic growth curve models indicated that the mean levels of parents' depressive symptoms (H1), relationship uncertainty (H2), and interference from a partner (H3) were positively associated with parents' reports of military children's reintegration difficulty. These findings suggest that the relational turbulence model has utility for illuminating the reintegration difficulty of military children during the postdeployment transition. (PsycINFO Database Record; (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).
Publisher/Sponsoring Organization:
American Psychological Association
Publication Type:
Article
REACH Publication
Author Affiliation:
Department of Communication, University of Illinois, LKK
The Family Institute at Northwestern University, LMKF
School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, JBY
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois, ATE
University of Illinois, PCM
Keywords:
humans, child, adult, female, male, adolescent, middle aged, young adult, child, preschool, infant, spouses, psychology, depression, family, longitudinal studies, military personnel, social adjustment
REACH Publication Type:
Research Summary
Sponsors:
University of Illinois, Family Resiliency Center, US