The Special Case of Civilian Service Members: Supporting Parents in the National Guard and Reserves

Abstract

This chapter reviews the stages of deployment from the perspective of National Guard and Reserve families, with a deeper discussion about the unique challenges of balancing civilian and military life, mental health, and parenting, with particular attention paid to parenting stress. We present data from female National Guard spouses/partners, exploring the role of household stress, parenting stress, and depression in the post-deployment period. We also introduce a resiliency framework for supporting families, with a review of several promising parenting interventions and programs for spouses/partners. Lastly, we discuss clinical practice and policy implications, and future directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)