Introduction

Emotionregulationandparentingamongmilitaryservicemembers• Militaryservicemembersdeployedtoconflictzonesareatelevatedrisk

forpsychopathologyandadjustmentproblemsduetowar-relatedtraumaexposure(Milliken,Auchterlonie,&Hoge,2007).Thestressofdeploymentandsubsequentadjustmentdifficultiespersistduringthereintegrationperiod,andmaypresentsubstantialchallengestothechildreninmilitaryfamilies.

• Asacoreinternalprocessunderlyingvariouspsychopathologies,emotionregulationiscentraltoeffectiveparentingbehaviors,especiallyemotion-relatedparenting(Rutherford,Wallace,Laurent,&Mayes,2015).

• Theirtendencytodismissemotionsandavoidemotion-relatedstimuli,mayescalatetheirpunitiveandcontrollingbehaviorstoresolveconflicts,leadingtoincreasedratesofcoerciveparent–childinteractions(Dishion &Patterson,2006).

AfterDeployment,AdaptiveParentingTools

• ADAPTisaparenttrainingprogramtailoredtothespecificneedsofmilitaryfamilieswhosegoalistoenhanceeffectiveparentingpractices,thusreducingchildren’sadjustmentproblems(Gewirtz,&Davis,2014).

• Thisgroup-basedpreventiveinterventionisdesignedtotargetsixcoreparentingpractices:positiveinvolvement,skillencouragement,problemsolving,monitoring,discipline,andemotionsocialization(Gewirtz,Pinna,Hanson,&Dustin,2014).

ThePresentStudy• Question1:CantheADAPTinterventionimproveparents’emotion-related

parentingpractices?• Question2:Howparents’difficultiesinemotionregulationmightboostor

lessentheirbenefitfromtheparentingprogram,especiallyformalemilitaryservicemembers?

Participants• ThisstudyusedasubsetofdatafromtheADAPTstudy,whichincluded

181deployedfathersin2-parentfamilieswhosewivesarecivilians.Thefathersareonaverage37.76yearsold(SD=6.42),primarilywhiteandnon-Hispanic(87.8%).Theyarerelativelywell-educated,with52%havinga4-yearcollegeoradvanceddegree.

Procedureonlinescreeningà consentandassentà secureandconfidentialonlinesurveyà in-homeassessmentatbaselineà randomizationà ADAPTinterventionà in-homeassessment1-yearpost-baseline

MeasuresDifficultiesinEmotionRegulation• TheDifficultiesinEmotionRegulationScale(DERS,Gratz&Roemer,2004)

isa36-itemself-reportscaleassessingindividuals’responsestonegativeemotionalexperiences.

Emotion-relatedParentingPractices

Parent-childinteractions• father-childproblem-solving• father-mother-childproblemsolving• father-childconversationaboutdeployment

TheMacro-LevelFamilyInteractionCodingSystem(MFICS;Snyder,2013)

ControlvariablesTreatmentstatus(1forADAPTinterventionconditionand0forcontrols)Fathers’deployment-relatedvariables,includingnumberofmonthsthefathershavedeployed,andfathers’combatexposuremeasuredusingtheDeploymentRiskandResilienceInventoryYearsmarried(averageofhusbandandwifereportsofyearsmarriedtocurrentspouse)Childgender(1forgirland0forboy)ParenteducationChildage

DataAnalysisPlan• Anintent-to-treat(ITT)approachwasusedtoevaluateinterventioneffects• Missingdatainallmodelsweremanagedwiththefullinformation

maximumlikelihood(FIML)procedureusedbyMplus version7.4.

Methods

Resultsshowedthattheinterventiondidnotdirectlyimprovefathers’observedparentingrelativetothecontrolgroup.However,theinterventiondidsignificantlyreduceobservedreactivity/coercionanddistressavoidanceamongfatherswithaboveaverageself-reporteddifficultiesinemotionregulationatbaseline.

ConclusionsandImplicationsTheinterventionhasitsmostbenefitsonfathers’parentingbyreducingdistressavoidanceforfatherswithmoreemotionregulationproblems.Ourfindingsonthemoderatingeffectofemotionregulationontheparentingprogramformilitaryfamiliesmayhaveimportantimplicationsforpersonalizedpreventionintervention.

Results

Reference

ThisstudywassupportedbyGrantDA030114toAbigailGewirtz fromNIDA.PleasecontactJingchenZhangatzhan4936@umn.edu foradditionalinformation.

Moredeficit,morebenefit:Emotionregulationasamoderatoroftheeffectsofamilitaryparenting

programonfathers’parentingpracticesJingchenZhang,NaZhang,JessicaRudi,AbigailGewirtz

UniversityofMinnesota– TwinCities

ADAPT Intervention Emotion-related parenting practices

Difficulties in emotion regulation

Positiveengagement Coercive/hyperactivity

Withdrawalavoidance Distressavoidance

Figure1.Difficultiesinemotionregulationmoderatedtheinterventioneffectonobservedreactivitycoercionanddistressavoidanceat1-yearamongdeployedfathers.

Dishion,T.J.,&Patterson,G.R.(2006).Thedevelopmentandecologyofantisocialbehavior.InD.Cicchetti &D.Cohen(Eds.),Developmentalpsychopathology (Vol.3:Risk,disorder,andadaptation,Reviseded.,pp.503–541).NewYork:Wiley.

Gewirtz,A.H.,Pinna,K.L.,Hanson,S.K.,&Brockberg,D.(2014).Promotingparentingtosupportreintegratingmilitaryfamilies:Afterdeployment,adaptiveparentingtools.Psychologicalservices,11(1),31-40.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034134

Milliken,C.S.,Auchterlonie,J.L.,&Hoge,C.W.(2007).LongitudinalassessmentofmentalhealthproblemsamongactiveandreservecomponentsoldiersreturningfromtheIraqwar.JournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssociation,298(18),2141–2148.http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.298.18.2141

Rutherford,H.J.,Wallace,N.S.,Laurent,H.K.,&Mayes,L.C.(2015).Emotionregulationinparenthood.DevelopmentalReview,36,1-14.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.12.008

Snyder,J.(2013).Macro-LevelFamilyInteractionCodingSystem(MFICS):Technicalreport.Wichita,KS:DepartmentofPsychology,WichitaStateUniversity.