Challenges to coparenting posed by military life and strategies used by fathers and mothers to overcome them

• Published in: Journal of military, veteran and family health
• Main Authors: Mercier, Geneviève, Pierce, Tamarha, Mercier, Joanie, Bernard-Giroux, Coralie, de Montigny, Francine, Dubeau, Diane, Gervais, Christine, da Costa, Deborah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.07.2024
• ISSN: 2368-7924; 2368-7924
• DOI: 10.3138/jmvfh-2023-0058

Lay Summary Military life is known to challenge family member well-being, as well as parent-child and marital relationships. Although coparenting predicts parenting quality, parent-child and marital relationships, and family member well-being, research has rarely considered how it is challenged by military life and how parents overcome these challenges. Interviews with 15 fathers and 15 mothers from Canadian families headed by a military father and a civilian mother revealed various aspects of military life that impacted or complicated coparenting (absences, relocations, military culture, values and career, mothers’ occupations, and financial issues), mostly challenging parents’ abilities to jointly manage families and division of labour. Strategies to overcome challenges valued and encouraged father involvement, promoted agreement and joint decision-making, and adjusted coparenting dynamics, thoughts, and perceptions. Although temporary or permanent maternal solo-parenting was reported, most strategies supported coparental collaboration. Findings suggest ways to support coparenting and the resilience of military families. Introduction : Research has documented the challenges of military life for family member well-being and adjustment, as well as parent-child and marital relationships; yet few studies have considered how military life affects coparenting (i.e., collaboration and mutual support as parents, focusing on the impact of deployment). This study aimed to 1) describe the challenges posed by various demands of military life for coparenting in Canadian military families and 2) explore strategies used to face these challenges and how they may enhance or hinder coparenting. Methods : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 fathers and 15 mothers from Canadian families headed by a military father and a civilian mother. Interviews explored coparenting using Feinberg’s framework of coparenting. Thematic analysis of transcripts was conducted. Results : Mothers and fathers described various challenges, including direct and indirect consequences of military life on coparenting. Some parents noted advantages of military life for coparenting. Challenges pertained to agreement about child-rearing and education or support and undermining the other parent, but mainly focused on division of labour and joint family management. Strategies to overcome these challenges related to father involvement, agreement and joint decision-making, coparenting dynamics, and individual cognitive strategies. Discussion : Fathers and mothers reported several challenges to coparenting that were directly and indirectly tied to the father’s military employment. Strategies adopted generally enhanced coparental collaboration, although solo-parenting by mothers was also reported. Joint family management should be prioritized in services and family policy to support military parents’ active roles in their families and the overall resilience of military families.