Relevance of Attachment Theory to Parenting Concerns Among Veterans With TBI

Opinion statementTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered the signature injury of the Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (heretofore referred to as OEF/OIF/OND) US military conflicts. TBI can result in a myriad of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social-relational symptoms that can negatively influence one ’s ability to parent. Additional factors can negatively impact the well-being of military families facing TBI, further increasing child-parent relationship strain: (1) high base rates of comorbid psychiatric conditions; (2) unique demographic characteristics of OEF/OIF/OND veterans; and (3) deploy ment stress that negatively impacts the emotional functioning of the veteran and their family. There remains a paucity of scientific literature supporting clinical interventions for improving parental functioning among veterans with TBI. With its focus on adaptive interactions and building a healthy child-parent bond, attachment theory offers a conceptual framework to consider when child-parent relationship ruptures occur after a parent has sustained a TBI.
Source: Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research