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Parental Wartime Deployment and Socioemotional Adjustment in Early Childhood: The Critical Role of Military Parents’ Perceived Threat During Deployment
Author(s) -
Hajal Nastassia J.,
Aralis Hilary J.,
Kiff Cara J.,
Wasserman Melissa M.,
Paley Blair,
Milburn Norweeta G.,
Mogil Catherine,
Lester Patricia
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.22475
Subject(s) - socioemotional selectivity theory , psychology , military deployment , anxiety , stressor , developmental psychology , military service , military personnel , socialization , clinical psychology , psychiatry , archaeology , political science , law , history
Infants, toddlers, and preschool‐aged children have unique developmental needs that render them vulnerable to challenges associated with parental military service. We used a sample of military‐connected families with 3–6‐year‐old children ( N = 104) to examine associations among children's socioemotional development and fathers’ trauma‐related deployment experiences, including perceived threat during deployment and exposure to combat and the aftermath of battle. Of these potential stressors, only paternal perceived threat during deployment was significantly associated with measures of mother‐reported child adjustment. Fathers’ perceived threat during deployment was associated with child behavior problems even after accounting for demographic variables and current paternal symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, β = .36, p = .007. The association between fathers’ perceived threat during deployment and child behavior problems was mediated by several family processes related to emotion socialization, including father‐reported sensitive parenting, indirect effect (IE) B = 0.106, 95% CI [0.009, 0.236]; parent–child dysfunctional interaction, IE B = 0.119, 95% CI [0.014, 0.252]; and mother‐reported family emotional responsiveness, IE B = 0.119, 95% CI [0.011, 0.258]. Implications for future research on the intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress as well as prevention and intervention efforts for military‐connected families with young children are discussed.