[German Military Families: A Qualitative Inquiry of Strategies of Coping with the Fathers' Absence].

[German Military Families: A Qualitative Inquiry of Strategies of Coping with the Fathers' Absence]. Prax Kinderpsychol Kinderpsychiatr. 2019 Sep;68(6):540-554 Authors: Wimmer E, Bühler A, Thurn L, Gulde M, Cunitz K, Willmund GW, Zimmermann P, Fegert JM, Kölch M, Ziegenhain U, Mörtl K Abstract German Military Families: A Qualitative Inquiry of Strategies of Coping with the Fathers' Absence Military families with experiences of deployment are subject to multiple stressors. In this research an explorative qualitative design was used to identify specific challenges, resources and strategies of coping within the families, focusing on the children's perspective. Results show that the fathers' absence causes vital changes in the family system, which demand specific strategies to deal with the abrupt emotional and social challenges. Four of these coping strategies will be presented in this article. Furthermore, resources embedded in the social environment as well as supportive structures provided by the German military will be discussed. Two hypotheses were formulated to outline the findings that the preparation for a deployment as well as patterns of communication about the father's absence are the most crucial factors for the children's resilience in the case of military families. PMID: 31480949 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie - Category: Child Development Tags: Prax Kinderpsychol Kinderpsychiatr Source Type: research