STRONG MILITARY FAMILIES INTERVENTION ENHANCES PARENTING REFLECTIVITY AND REPRESENTATIONS IN FAMILIES WITH YOUNG...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Family Studies
• Military Psychology

Background:

• Military families experience unique stressors, including deployment and parental separation, impacting family dynamics and child-rearing.
• Parenting young children presents specific challenges, exacerbated by the military lifestyle.
• The Strong Military Families (SMF) intervention offers two formats: a Multifamily Group and a Home-based program.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine parenting reflectivity and mental representations in military families.
• To compare these constructs between mothers and fathers, and service members and civilian partners.
• To evaluate the impact of the SMF intervention's two formats on parenting outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI) to assess parenting reflectivity and mental representations.
• Compared baseline and postintervention data from parents participating in the SMF Multifamily Group and Home-based interventions.
• Analyzed differences based on parental role (mother vs. father) and military status (service member vs. civilian partner).

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in parenting reflectivity or WMCI typology between mothers and fathers.
• No significant differences were observed between service members and civilian parenting partners.
• While both SMF formats showed stability, the Multifamily Group intervention was associated with significant improvements in parenting reflectivity and WMCI ratings.

Conclusions:

• Parenting reflectivity and mental representations are stable constructs in military families.
• The SMF Multifamily Group intervention is more effective than the Home-based program in enhancing parenting reflectivity and mental representations.
• Findings support the use of group-based psychoeducational interventions for supporting military families with young children.