Supporting Military Family Resilience at the Transition to Parenthood: A Randomized Pilot Trial of an Online Version of Family Foundations

Mark E. Feinberg, Jesse Boring, Yunying Le, Michelle L. Hostetler, Jennifer Karre, Jamie Irvin, Damon E. Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This article examines whether family resilience can be enhanced among military families via an online prevention program for military couples at the transition to parenthood. Background: Military families experience normative stressors similar to those of civilian families, as well as military-specific stressors, such as deployment, frequent moves, and uncertainty. Method: Participants were 56 heterosexual couples who, at the time of recruitment, were expecting their first child and were living together (regardless of marital status). Mothers and fathers completed measures online: Pretest was administered upon recruitment during pregnancy, and posttest was administered at 6 months postpartum. After pretest, couples were randomized to control and intervention conditions; intervention couples were provided access to the online version of Family Foundations. Results: Although outcomes require replication given the sample size and issues with attrition, results indicated significant program impact, with moderate to strong effect sizes, on parent depression, mothers' report of coparenting support, and infant mood and soothability. Conclusion: These results suggest online delivery of prevention programming is a potentially effective means of enhancing military family well-being—and thus resilience. Implications: Low-cost and effective support for military families is possible via online modalities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)109-124
Number of pages16
JournalFamily Relations
Volume69
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2020

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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