Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of Military Families through Community-Based Participatory Research

Background and Purpose: Military deployments are at the highest level since World War II. Growing attention on military-involved children has provided some knowledge regarding the impact of challenging experiences on their mental health functioning. However, few studies have specifically asked military families about the psychosocial impact of their military involvement and the potential services they may desire. Rather than predetermine which services would work best for military families, the study purpose was to gain input from the intervention targets themselves (i.e., military personnel, at-home parents, and military-affiliated community providers) to understand their unique perspectives on the mental health needs of their children.

Methods: Community-based participatory research principles were employed in recognition that participant input was essential for shaping outreach, engagement, and service provision efforts. Community-based participatory research regards service members and their families as experts in their own experiences, resilience, and needs related to military involvement. Service members or military family members participated in focus groups that were designed by military community members and the authors.

The participants (n = 18) ranged in age from twenty-seven to sixty-six years old (M = 43.76, SD = 11.23). Of the eighteen participants, 94 percent were Caucasian. With respect to education level, all had obtained post-high-school degrees. There were eight male participants and ten females. Participants who identified as service members were primarily veterans (one participant identified as active duty) and represented four of the five branches of service (Marine Corps, Army, Navy, and Air Force). One participant identified as a military spouse.

Findings:  The focus groups illustrated the complexity of issues that the children and families of deployed service men and women face. Participants reinforced the notion that children attempt to make meaning of the circumstances they face as part of a military family and culture. Children’s emotional responses are influenced by their developmental levels, temperaments, family dynamics during deployment, and historical experiences. Using grounded theory, attachment issues surfaced as a strong theme. Many military parents shared the disheartening experience of having their young children treat them as strangers upon their return home. Though the adults felt connected to the child through the use of video chatting while deployed, they expressed feeling unprepared for the way their child responded to their return home. Participants reported a strong desire for attachment-based interventions that could repair and restore the disrupted parent-child bond.

Conclusion and Implications:  As social workers, we must listen directly to the voices of the military families we are seeking to serve. Shifting our focus from the service member as an individual, to the military as a family as a whole, brings greater perspective and awareness to the various needs of these families. Social workers must work to develop and apply interventions that support the family unit across the various stages of military deployment.