Abstract
This chapter reviews aspects of family functioning unique to National Guard and Reserve families across the deployment cycle, with particular attention to parenting and parenting stress. The chapter presents data on parenting and household stress in a postdeployment sample of 215 National Guard spouses/partners showing that higher levels of household stress and parenting stress predict higher levels of depressive symptoms. The pile-up of family stressors inherent when balancing a military/civilian life can negatively impact the mental health of nondeployed spouses. Current theoretical approaches and promising intervention programs focused on parenting and on spouse/partner mental health in National Guard and Reserve families are also introduced. Clinical practice and policy implications, as well as future directions, are also presented. Resilience promoting interventions offered in the community remain critical to best supporting National Guard and Reserve families.
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Schuh, A.L., Kees, M., Blow, A., Gorman, L. (2016). The Special Case of Civilian Service Members: Supporting Parents in the National Guard and Reserves. In: Gewirtz, A., Youssef, A. (eds) Parenting and Children's Resilience in Military Families. Risk and Resilience in Military and Veteran Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12556-5_6
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