Supporting Military Family Resilience at the Transition to Parenthood: A Randomized Pilot Trial of an Online Version of Family Foundations

• Published in: Family relations Vol. 69; no. 1; pp. 109 - 124
• Main Authors: Feinberg, Mark E., Boring, Jesse, Le, Yunying, Hostetler, Michelle L., Karre, Jennifer, Irvin, Jamie, Jones, Damon E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.02.2020; National Council on Family Relations
• Subjects: Adjustment; Armed forces; Attrition; Attrition (Research Studies); Behavior Problems; Child Abuse; Child Advocacy; Child Health; Child Rearing; Children & youth; Coparenting; Couples; Coups d'etat; Departments; Deployment; Depression (Psychology); Effect Size; Emotions; Families & family life; Family Relationship; Family Structure; family systems; Heterosexuality; infant well‐being; Infants; Internet; Intervention; Marital status; Maternal and infant welfare; Maternal depression; Mental depression; Mental health; Military deployment; military families; Mothers; Parent Child Relationship; Parents & parenting; Post traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Pregnancy; prevention; Prevention programs; Quality; Recruitment; Resilience; Sample Size; Stress; Uncertainty; Well being; Young Children
• ISSN: 0197-6664; 1741-3729; 0197-6664
• DOI: 10.1111/fare.12415

Objective This article examines whether family resilience can be enhanced among military families via an online prevention program for military couples at the transition to parenthood. Background Military families experience normative stressors similar to those of civilian families, as well as military‐specific stressors, such as deployment, frequent moves, and uncertainty. Method Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who, at the time of recruitment, were expecting their first child and were living together (regardless of marital status). Mothers and fathers completed measures online: Pretest was administered upon recruitment during pregnancy, and posttest was administered at 6 months postpartum. After pretest, couples were randomized to control and intervention conditions; intervention couples were provided access to the online version of Family Foundations. Results Although outcomes require replication given the sample size and issues with attrition, results indicated significant program impact, with moderate to strong effect sizes, on parent depression, mothers' report of coparenting support, and infant mood and soothability. Conclusion These results suggest online delivery of prevention programming is a potentially effective means of enhancing military family well‐being—and thus resilience. Implications Low‐cost and effective support for military families is possible via online modalities.