Adult children in Canadian military families (1950-91): Balancing demands with capabilities

The demands of mobility, separation, and risk enhance the capabilities of some military children. It is unknown, however, whether capabilities developed during military childhoods are sustained through adulthood, nor are the adaptive responses understood. Retrospective accounts of the childhood experiences of an under-studied cohort, the adult children of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans who served from the Korean War through to the Gulf War, gleaned through this exploratory study, offer insight into how these experiences shaped adult lives.

Twenty-three adult children meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited through an opportunistic sampling strategy implemented through key informants and social media. Phenomenology guided semi-structured interviews. Interviews were taped and transcribed, and field notes maintained. Interview transcripts were imported into MAXQDA, a qualitative analysis software program, coded, and analyzed. Results were analyzed through application of the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model, highlighting family meanings, demands, and capabilities.

Adaptive responses to the demands of relocation, disruptions in schooling, authoritarian parenting, alcohol use disorder, and abuse in the families of origin were described by participants in this study. Meaning making was instrumental in adapting to the normative and non-normative demands of military life, enhancing empathy, social skills, and a commitment to public service in adulthood. The culture of community prominent in base housing of that era was identified as a significant resource, instilling a sense of identity and belonging that remains meaningful to the present day for participants.

Implications for contemporary military family support policies and programs were shared by participants.