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Effects of the After Deployment: Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) intervention on fathers and their children: A moderated mediation model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 November 2019

Abigail H. Gewirtz ,
James Snyder ,
Osnat Zamir ,
Jingchen Zhang  and
Na Zhang
Abigail H. Gewirtz*
Affiliation:
Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, USA Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, USA
James Snyder
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA
Osnat Zamir
Affiliation:
Paul Baerwald, School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Jingchen Zhang
Affiliation:
Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, St. Paul, MN, USA
Na Zhang
Affiliation:
REACHInstitute, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
*
Author for Correspondence: Abigail Gewirtz, Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, 290 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

Deployment to war is associated with disruptions to emotion regulation and parenting. Using data from a randomized controlled trial, we examined whether fathers with poorer emotion regulation would differentially benefit from the After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools program, a 14-session group-based parenting intervention. Prior analyses of the intervention demonstrated benefits to observed couple parenting and children's adjustment, but not to fathers’ observed parenting. In this study we examined whether intervention effects on fathers’ observed distress avoidance were moderated by baseline emotion regulation, and whether reduced distress avoidance was associated with improved observed parenting and reduced children's internalizing symptoms. A subset of the full randomized controlled trial sample (181 families with a father who had returned from deployment to war in Iraq or Afghanistan, a nondeployed mother, and a target child aged 4–13) completed measures at baseline, 12-months, and 24-months postbaseline. Results indicated that fathers high in baseline emotion regulation difficulties assigned to the intervention group showed reductions in observed distress avoidance at 12 months compared to controls, which were subsequently associated with improvements in observed parenting practices and reductions in children's internalizing symptoms at 24 months. The results suggest a role for personalizing parenting programs for fathers high in emotion dysregulation.

Keywords

childrenfamiliesmilitaryparentingprevention
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Special Issue 5: Honoring the Contributions and Legacy of Thomas Dishion , December 2019 , pp. 1837 - 1849
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

All authors contributed equally to this article, and all should be considered primary authors. Authorship is listed alphabetically.

Dr. James Snyder is deceased.

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