Protective Factors in Families: Themes From a Socioecological Study of Australian Defence Force Families Experiencing Parental Deployment

Marg Rogers-Baber

doi:10.1177/2158244017706711

Abstract

Families sometimes face prolonged and frequent absences of a parent due to employment in industries that require work away or for military deployment. Many families, however, are finding ways to survive and thrive. Within Australian Defence Force (ADF) families, despite the high stress and inherent danger, most do cope, displaying strength and resilience. Limited research has been conducted with Australian military families with young children, even less focusing on protective factors. There is particularly a dearth of research about families who have left the ADF or who have experienced the death of an ADF parent. This study offers unique insights through exploring family experiences of parental deployment by applying a socioconstructivist approach from data derived through narrative research. Protective factors were identified through relationships, the ADF, social media, community organizations, government departments, and digital communication technologies. Understanding how these families manage and ...

Highlights

As it is clear from these stories, in addition to fears for the safety of deployed parents, military families deal with the ongoing stress associated with prolonged absence of one family member
This study focuses on the protective factors identified within three families with young children who experienced prolonged parental deployments and frequent, short-term parent training periods away from home during Australian Defence Force (ADF) service
Despite deployment being taxing and testing for families (Siebler, 2015), a number of protective factors were identified for the three families in this study

Summary

Introduction

As it is clear from these stories, in addition to fears for the safety of deployed parents, military families deal with the ongoing stress associated with prolonged absence of one family member. This stress places other individual family members, as well as the whole family unit, at risk and contributes to higher levels of workplace attrition (Pincombe & Pincombe, 2010). Research about the influence of protective factors within these families is scarce, limiting defense forces and others who assist the families to effectively strengthen, target, and resource their support.

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Conclusion