Research has suggested that military spouses experience increased depressive symptoms and parenting stress during a military member's deployment. A relationship between maternal depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and child attachment security has been found in the general population, as has an indication that social support may provide a buffering effect. While there appears to be an association between the emotional well-being of military spouses and child emotional well-being during deployment, data are limited regarding the association between maternal emotional well-being and child attachment security. The current study explores the association between deployment status and child attachment to the nonmilitary parent (i.e., the mother in this study) in a sample of 68 Canadian military families. Results revealed a significant impact of deployment status on maternal depressive symptoms and on quality of child attachment. The impact of deployment status on attachment was not mediated through the maternal variables, and despite a main effect of social support on the maternal variables, there was no moderating effect. Thus, our results suggest that deployment may affect child attachment independently of maternal well-being.
Keywords: Einsatz; Militär; afectividad del niño; attachement de l'enfant; ausencia por servicio militar; bien-être émotionnel; bienestar emocional; child attachment; deployment; déploiement; emotional well-being; emotionales Wohlbefinden; kindliche Bindung; militaire; militar; military; تعلق الطفل ، العسكرية ، الايفاد العسكري ، والسلامة العاطفية; 作戦展開; 兒童依附; 子どものアタッチメント; 情緒幸福感; 情緒的安寧; 軍; 軍事; 部署.
© 2018 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.