This study evaluates the impact of Families Overcoming Under Stress Family Resilience Training (FOCUS), on the psychological adjustment of military children. The two primary goals of this article are to understand the relationships of distress among family members and to determine pathways of program impact on child adjustment.
Publications
Information about selected journal articles, papers, and other documents authored or formally reviewed by MFRI researchers and other staff:
Understanding and supporting the resilience of a new generation of combat-exposed military families and their children (2013)
Taking our nation to war has exposed a generation of military families and children to combat and its consequences. Every dollar spent on bullets, trucks, fuel and food carried a future ‘tax’ in the form of consequences for psychological and physical health and family relationships. In this commentary, I focus on several themes that emerge from the special collection or articles.
Work adjustment after combat deployment: Reservist repatriation (2013)
The authors conducted a study with U.S. Army reservists to explore the concerns and obstacles in the process of returning to the civilian workforce following a combat deployment. They explored the adjustment process and obstacles encountered by the returning reservists through interviews over a 12-month period.
The development and implications of peer emotional support for student service members/veterans and civilian college students (2013)
This study compared the development and implications of emotional support from peers among 199 student service members/veterans and 181 civilian students through three distinct occasions over the course of one year.
Approaching family-focused systems of care for military and veteran families (2013)
This article highlights theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence that illustrate the relevance of systemic approaches to supporting service members, veterans and their families.
Economic Conditions of Military Families (2013)
This article examined the earning rates between military service members and their civilian counterparts. The article also found that more military spouses are either unemployed or work fewer hours than they would like, and tend to earn less than their civilian counterparts.
Examining the Association Between Binge Drinking and Propensity to Join the Military (2013)
It is unclear to what degree alcohol consumption predicts enlistment into the military. To address this need, authors explored the extent to which binge drinking was related to joining the military among a national sample of high school seniors responding to the 2008 Monitoring the Future survey.
The development and implications of peer emotional support for student service members/veterans and civilian college students (2013)
tudent service members and veterans represent a growing population on college campuses. Despite this growth, research into their issues is almost nonexistent, and what is available suggests that student service members/veterans may have trouble connecting with their civilian counterparts and be at risk for social isolation. This article compares the development and implications of emotional support from peers and revealed that student service members/veterans reported less emotional support from their peers compared with their civilian counterparts.
Romantic Relationships Following Wartime Deployment (2013)
In this article, the authors examine the romantic relationships of reservists following wartime deployment. Members of an Army Reserve unit and their partners were interviewed the year following the return from deployment.
The alcohol use and associated mental health problems of veterans and student service members in higher education (2012)
In this article, the authors examined whether student service members/veterans attending college drank alcohol more than their civilian peers; and whether links between student service members/veterans’ alcohol use and mental health-related outcomes differed from civilian students.