This webinar will feature what has been learned from the ADAPT (After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools) Project. The presenter will identify how to best support military families coping with the stress of deployment and reintegration with a focus on parenting skills, couple relationships, problem-solving, and effective communication.

1. 1
As you arrive in the webinar room, please answer this
question in the chat pod -
What family stresses related to deployment and
reintegration do you see in your work with military
families?

2. https://learn.extension.org/events/2400
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.
Parenting During Times of Transition (Part 2) –
Promoting Effective Parenting During
Deployment & Reintegration

3. Connecting military family service providers
to research and to each other
through innovative online programming
www.extension.org/militaryfamilies
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4. Join the Conversation Online!
MFLN Family Transitions
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MFLN Family Transitions
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5. Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, Ph.D., L.P.
Lindahl Leadership Professor
• Institute for Translational Research in Children’s
Mental Health at the University of Minnesota
• Professor in the Department of Family Social
Science and the Institute of Child Development
Today’s Presenter
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Research focuses on the development, effectiveness
testing, and implementation of targeted prevention
programs that promote child resilience among highly
stressed families including those affected by military
deployment and war

6. Learner Objectives:
• Identify key elements of effective parenting
programs
• Describe family stresses of deployment and
reintegration
• Describe what makes a program evidence-based
• Describe why ADAPT is an evidence-based
program
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7. Healthy families,
healthy service members
• Mission readiness requires an uncluttered mind
- Concerns about family associated with poorer wellbeing during and
after deployment
• Much past research on influence of family
members on each other’s wellness
– Parents with psychological or parenting challenges have children
with more problems
• The good news: improving parenting skills leads
to improvements in other family domains…..
– Using evidence-based family programming
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8. After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools
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9. What is ADAPT?
• First federally funded randomized study of a parenting
program for military families with school-aged children, and the
first parenting study of National Guard families
• Tests a parenting program (ADAPT) designed specifically for
military families via a randomized controlled trial, and at the
same time aims to learn about how families navigate
deployment and reintegration
• 14-week group-based parenting program that is now also
available in 2 versions
 online-only
 individual tele-health
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10. Why did we start ADAPT?
• We wanted to learn about family resilience
– How do parents reconnect with children after deployment?
– How do mothers and fathers parent in the wake of deployment?
– How can we support families after deployment?
• No research-based parenting programs for
deployed families with school-aged children
• Fewer resources for the NGR than active-duty
service members
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11. ADAPT’s theoretical framework:
Parenting practices mediate impact of
family stressors on child adjustment
• Deployment is a family stressor
• Separations from family and children
(MacDermid, 2006)
• Combat related stressors (Cozza et al.,
2005)
• Reintegration is a key transition
point
• Transitions offer special prevention
opportunities
• Parenting practices mediate the
impact of deployment stress on
child outcomes (Patterson, 1982)
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12. The study:
Effectiveness of a web-enhanced
parenting program for military families
• 2010-2016
• 336 NG/R families recruited; each family followed for two years
– Random assignment to a parenting program (ADAPT; 60%) or parenting
services-as-usual (web and print resources; 40%)
– Parents and teachers complete online questionnaires, and
observational, self-report, and physiological data are gathered from
families (parents & children) at baseline, 6, 12, and 24 months.
– Outcomes: parenting practices, couple adjustment, child adjustment
(behavior and emotional problems, substance use, peer adjustment),
parent emotion regulation, parent emotion socialization
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13. Modifications to parent training model for
military families: ADAPT
• ADAPT is a 14-week long, web-enhanced, group-based
program for troops returning from deployment who have
at least one child aged 5-12yrs
– Weekly, provided in the community, 2hrs long, groups began Sept 2011
– Online ADAPT is available to participants for 12 months
• Modifications include: attention to emotion regulation in
family communication (emotion socialization)
– Mindfulness training (to address experiential avoidance associated with
combat stress symptoms)
– Emotion coaching (esp. responding to children’s anxiety)
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14. Modifications continued…
• Attention to military culture and values (in group process,
in tailored video material, role plays, etc)
• Emphasis on united parenting front (for two-parent
families)
• Addressing common barriers to participation
– Web-component to increase involvement in group program by other
caregivers, spouses, etc.
– Stand alone online ADAPT is under development (Marquez, Gewirtz, &
DeGarmo, 2013-2015)
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15. ADAPT program content
6 key parenting skills
– Teaching through encouragement
– Emotion socialization (added)
– Positive involvement with children
– Family problem-solving
– Monitoring and supervision
– Effective discipline
Groups augmented with online materials for midweek
– Skill and practice videos
– Mindfulness practices downloadable to MP3/smartphones
– Home practice and information handouts
– Short quizzes/ knowledge checks
Taught via:
– Role play
– Discussion
– Practice
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16. 16
Time to Chat
Questions? Thoughts?
Share with us in the chat pod!

17. Who are the families in ADAPT?
• 608 adults and 336 children in 336 families in Minnesota
National Guard, and in Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and
Coast Guard Reserve Units
• 57 deployed mothers;
282 deployed fathers
• Married: 9.8 years on
average (SD = 5.3)
• Mean number of
marriages: 1.2
• Average number of
children: 2.39 (SD = 1)
• Mean family income:
$71,281 (SD = $34,761) 17

18. Who are the families continued…
• Number of deployments (ever): 1-13 for men, 1-5 for
women
• Number of deployments since 2001: 1-6 for men, 1-5 for
women (mean = 1.96 for men, 1.4 for women)
• Deployment status by family
– Male deployed = 282
– Female deployed = 31
– Both deployed = 26
• For more information on baseline data, and intervention
process, see Gewirtz et al., 2013, 2014, in press (moms,
dads, overall parenting)
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19. Who are the military and deployed mothers
in ADAPT?
80 military mothers
– 52 in dual partner military families
– 28 just mothers in military
– 44 Army NG; 11 Air NG; 16 reserves, 9 other
57 mothers have deployed to OIF or
OEF; 51 were gone 6-24 months; 44
deployed once
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20. Deployed vs. non-deployed mothers in ADAPT
• We analyzed data from 181 mothers who completed baseline
data collection
• 34 deployed, 147 never deployed
• Controlling for marital status, deployed mothers reported
significantly higher distress (PTSD and depression symptoms)
and difficulties in emotion regulation than never deployed
mothers
• Deployed mothers had more adverse past year life events
• But no differences in reports of couple or child adjustment
(Gewirtz et al, 2014, Professional Psychology, Research and
Practice)
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23. Interviews with deployed mothers
• At completion of ADAPT study, I invite all deployed
mothers to an individual interview
– Coffee shop or woman’s choice of location
– No longer than 45-60 mins
– Videotaped, with a copy given to the woman to keep
• We have conducted 6 interviews to-date
• About ¼-1/3 of eligible women decline to participate
– ‘this was a traumatic time and I don’t want to talk about it’
• Majority report that this is a good opportunity to
share their experiences
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24. Interview questions
Chronological approach: life as a mother and a spouse
– Prior to the first deployment
– From knowing you were to deploy until the actual leaving
• Telling kids about deployment
– During deployment
• Communication with the family
• Safety and feeling threatened
– After returning to the family
• Reunification with children and spouse
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25. Interview findings/themes
• Deployment is something you train for
– Service and sacrifice/call of duty
– Ambivalence – service vs. leaving kids
• Attitudes of friends, family and community
members towards deployed mothers
– Different attitudes towards men who deployed vs. women
• Feeling threatened
– Danger is on-base
• Reintegration
– Jumping right back into parenting
– No transition time
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26. 26
Time to Chat

27. Randomization
• 60% families (N=207) randomly assigned to
ADAPT condition
• 40% families (N=129) to ‘services as usual’ –
web and print materials about parenting
• Families assigned in cohorts based on in-
home assessment date
• Families in the intervention/ADAPT condition
were invited to the next group to start that
matched their schedule and location
– 7 cohorts, 29 groups delivered
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28. ADAPT groups
• Held in churches,
community centers,
colleges across
Minnesota typically within
a 45-60 minute drive for
participants
• Childcare activities and
pizza dinner provided
• Families reimbursed for
travel ($10/family)
• Drawings to encourage
on-time attendance and
homework completion
• Groups lasted 2 hrs,
usually on a weekday
evening
• Group facilitators were
National Guard or
military-related individuals
(e.g. VA, spouses, etc)
and civilian human
service professionals
• Families completed
satisfaction surveys at the
end of each group
session (anonymous, IDs
only, in sealed envelope)
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29. ADAPT group participation
(Gewirtz, Pinna, Hanson, & Brockberg, 2014)
• Of the 207 families in the ADAPT condition, 70% showed up at
least once
• An additional 7% families accessed online components only
• Almost half of the families attended at least seven sessions
• Slightly greater mother (53%) than father (47%) participation
• Of the 145 families who attended at least one session, 71%
came to seven or more sessions
• 48% completed at least one home practice assignment; 52%
used online tools
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30. Average General Satisfaction
Mean:
3.85 - men
3.97 - women
0 1 2 3 4
Some Very Little Some Quite a Lot Very Much
30

31. “Giving Effective Directions”
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• Watch this 5-minute clip from ADAPT -
https://youtu.be/jM_q5yD6KNY
• Join us back here once you’re finished and raise
your hand to indicate you ready for discussion.

32. In the chat pod,
please share your thoughts
about the video.
Time to Chat
32

33. Preliminary follow-up data
We evaluated the effectiveness of the ADAPT program
at 6 and 12 months post-baseline
Examined the program’s effect on several dimensions of
parenting:
– Parenting self-efficacy (T2)
– Parent reports of ineffective discipline (T3)
– Observed parenting (T3)
Recently examined program effects on child outcomes
(T3)
- Behavior problems and adaptive skills (parent report)
And on parents’ PTSD symptoms
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34. Findings
Results indicate that, at posttest, the ADAPT
intervention significantly improved parents’:
– Parenting self-efficacy (mothers and fathers)
– Reports of ineffective discipline (mothers and fathers)
– Observed parenting in mothers and in higher-risk fathers
– PTSD symptoms in mothers and in higher-risk fathers
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35. Findings continued…
• At one year post baseline, improvements in parenting
efficacy as a result of the program led to:
– Reductions in mothers’ and fathers’ PTSD and depression
symptoms, and reductions in suicidal ideation (Gewirtz, DeGarmo,
& Zamir, in press)
– Improvements in children’s peer adjustment (Piehler, Ausherman,
Gliske, & Gewirtz, under review)
• Preliminary child behavior data indicate behavior
improvements in children in the ADAPT condition at one
year post-baseline
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36. 36
Time to Chat
What is one significant thing
you learned today?

37. ADAPT4U
New study funded by the Dept of Defense
(Military Operational Medical Research
Program/MOMRP) to evaluate different formats
of the ADAPT program
Online only
Group-based
Tele health
Recruiting now!
Families with 5-12 year olds, where at least one parent has
deployed in service of OIF or OEF MN Metro area, Duluth,
and Michigan (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek)
Go to www.adapt4u.umn.edu
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39. Acknowledgements
• ADAPT study funded by NIDA (R01 DA 030114; 2010-2015
(associated funding from SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic
Stress Network (SM56177); & NICHD R43 HD 066896)
• Program officers: Eve Reider and Belinda Sims
• Hundreds of National Guard and Reserve (NG/R) families
• National Guard command and communication staff
• Co-investigators: Drs. Melissa Polusny, Marion Forgatch, Dave
DeGarmo
• Research staff and facilitators
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40. Thank you
Abi Gewirtz:
agewirtz@umn.edu
ADAPT’s website:
Adapt4u.umn.edu
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41. Evaluation and Certificate of
Completion
MFLN Family Transitions is offering a certificate
of completion for today’s webinar.
To receive a certificate of completion, please
complete the evaluation and post-test at:
https://vte.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9Gl6TWHJMhX9jX7
41

42. Family Transitions Upcoming Event
42
Building Community Partnerships to Meet
Transitioning Service Members & Family Needs
• March 31, 2016
• Time: 11AM Eastern
• Location: https://learn.extension.org/events/2410
For more information on MFLN Family Transitions go to:
http://blog/.extension.org/militaryfamilies/life-cycle-transition-support

43. www.extension.org/62581
43This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.