Parental efficacy after a military parenting program: A dyadic latent growth model

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Family Studies
• Intervention Science

Background:

• Parental efficacy is crucial for parenting outcomes, yet research often overlooks coparents.
• Limited understanding exists on how parental distress influences coparental efficacy over time.
• Military families face unique stressors impacting parenting dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the dyadic relationship of parental efficacy in military couples post-intervention.
• To investigate the longitudinal impact of a parenting program on coparental efficacy.
• To identify predictors of parental efficacy changes, including parental distress and deployment length.

Main Methods:

• Dyadic latent growth modeling was employed with 271 heterosexual couples.
• Participants were assigned to either the 'After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools' intervention or a control group.
• Parental efficacy was assessed over a 2-year period.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed significant quadratic changes in parental efficacy over 2 years.
• The control group's parental efficacy remained relatively stable.
• Mothers' baseline emotional distress and fathers' deployment length predicted parental efficacy improvement.

Conclusions:

• Parenting interventions can enhance coparental efficacy in military families.
• A family systems approach is vital, considering individual distress and environmental factors.
• Targeted interventions should address emotional distress and deployment-related stressors for military families.