Factors influencing parental functioning and satisfaction for veteran mothers during civilian transition

• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Author: Nicole R. Morgan,Jennifer K. Karre,Keith R. Aronson,Kimberly J. McCarthy,Julia A. Bleser,Daniel F. Perkins
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12669

RESEARCH

Factors influencing parental functioning and

satisfaction for veteran mothers during civilian

transition

Nicole R. Morgan

1

|Jennifer K. Karre

1

|Keith R. Aronson

1,2,3

|

Kimberly J. McCarthy

1

|Julia A. Bleser

1

|Daniel F. Perkins

1,2,4

1

Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness,

Pennsylvania State University (Clearinghouse),

University Park, Pennsylvania, United States

2

Social Science Research Institute,

Pennsylvania State University, University

Park, Pennsylvania, United States

3

Department of Biobehavioral Health,

Pennsylvania State University, University

Park, Pennsylvania, United States

4

Department of Agricultural Economics,

Sociology and Education, Penn State

University, University Park, Pennsylvania,

United States

Correspondence

Daniel F. Perkins, Clearinghouse for Military

Family Readiness, The Pennsylvania State

University, 402 Marion Building, University

Park, PA 16802, USA.

Email: dfp102@psu.edu

Abstract

Objective: Risk and protective factors associated with

parental functioning (i.e., meeting child’s emotional needs)

and satisfaction (i.e., closeness) were examined among

post-9/11 veteran mothers during their civilian transition.

Background: Post–military-separation stressors (e.g., relo-

cation, benefit changes) can strain well-being and familial

relationships. Stress, particularly in the presence of unresolved

trauma from military-specific risks, can impinge upon paren-

tal functioning and satisfaction, negatively influencing child

outcomes (e.g., social–emotional, academic, behavioral).

Method: A prospective cohort was identified from all active

duty service members who separated in May–September

2016. Logistic regression analyses of surveys completed by

post-9/11 veteran mothers (n=711) assessed effects of pro-

tective (i.e., resilience) and military-specific risk factors

(i.e., deployments) on parental functioning and satisfaction.

Interactions between protective factors and deployments and

combat (patrols and corollaries) were explored.

Results: Coping characteristics (e.g., healthy behaviors),

absence of mental health conditions, and social supports

were positively associated with parental functioning and

satisfaction. Household financial security was not.

Mothers who had deployed reported higher parental func-

tioning and satisfaction. Mothers experiencing combat

patrols were less likely to report high parental functioning.

Conclusion: Malleable protective factors positively influ-

ence parenting but do not buffer against combat exposure.

Implications: Interventions bolstering protective factors for

veteran mothers can foster coping, reintegration, and posi-

tive child outcomes.

Received: 1 February 2021Revised: 13 December 2021Accepted: 1 January 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12669

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

1554 Family Relations. 2022;71:1554–1574.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare

KEYWORDS

combat, coping, mother, parenting, protective factors, veteran

There is a relationship between stressful military experiences and how well women veterans

transition to civilian life (Mattocks et al., 2012). During and after military service, military-

specific stressors influence mental and emotional well-being and may adversely affect parenting

(e.g., inattention, harsh parenting, poor bonding), thus interfering with healthy child develop-

ment (Giallo et al., 2014; Oyserman et al., 2002). This study explored the interplay of military-

specific risks with malleable protective factors and coping characteristics that promote parental

functioning (e.g., healthy environment and modeling; meeting child’s emotional needs) and sat-

isfaction (e.g., closeness, parenting enjoyment, and contentment with child’s well-being). During

active duty and the military-to-civilian transition, the protective assets and coping capacity of

mothers can be strengthened to the benefit of family dynamics and child outcomes.

Women began serving in the U.S. military in 1901 in the Army Nurse Corps; the number of

women formally serving in the military has grown since that time (Kochanek et al., 2019;

Reynolds & Shendruk, 2018). After the Vietnam War, the military became an all-volunteer

force with 2% of enlisted and 8% of officers being women (Reynolds & Shendruk, 2018). By

2015, women comprised approximately 9% of the veteran population; in 2043, women will

comprise 18% to 20% of living veterans (Mulhill, 2009). Almost 30% of women veterans (under

age 65 years) havechildren younger than18 years who liveat home (NationalCenter for Vet-

erans Analysis and Statistics, 2017). Moreover, nearly 40% of post-9/11 active duty women

have children, and approximately one third are single parents (Clever & Segal, 2013).

In the past, women’s military roles were restricted and typically involved less combat expo-

sure (e.g., clerical workers and translators); however, as Murdoch et al. (2006) reported, in vir-

tually every conflict fought by the United States, some women risked death or maiming from

exposure to battlefield or combat experiences (e.g., nurses, messengers, water couriers). The

Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 allowed women to serve as members of all

uniformed services’regular and reserve forces. However, it capped the proportion of female

troops at 2%, prevented women from commanding men and attaining flag rank (corresponding

to the paygrades of O7 and above), and limited the number of women midlevel officers. In addi-

tion, the act required the automatic discharge of women with minor children or those who

became pregnant. In 1968, with the passage of Public Law 90–130, the 2% limit on women eligi-

ble to serve was repealed. In the early 1990s, after the Gulf War, most restrictions on combat

assignments were lifted except for women’s service in infantry and artillery units, on submarines

and some Navy ships, and in a few units embedded within larger combat brigades. As of

January 1, 2016, policy changes enabled women to occupy a greater range of military combat

occupations (e.g., infantry, convoy transportation, medics) and deploy more than those who

previously served (Street et al., 2009). Combat occupations and deployment-related stressors

increase the likelihood that women will experience mental and physical problems (Bannister

et al., 2018). For example, women veterans who have deployed are more likely than those that

have not deployed to experience psychiatric stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug-

related disorders, accidental deaths, and somatic complaints (Murdoch et al., 2006).

Gender differences may affect not only women’s military roles but their well-being and par-

enting outcomes. For example, compared with their male counterparts, more military women

are Black or unmarried, and although combat exposure has increased among women veterans

(7% pre-1990 and 24% post-1990), they are still less likely than men to have served in combat

(Patten & Parker, 2011). In addition, women are over 5 times more likely to report military sex-

ual trauma (Wilson, 2018), and in a previous study of post-9/11 veterans, women were approxi-

mately 2 times (12.3% of males; 24.5% of females) more likely to report four or more adverse

childhood experiences (Aronson et al., 2020). Previous trauma, being of color, and raising

VETERAN MOTHERS’PARENTALFUNCTIONING AND SATISFACTION1555