Parental Deployment and Youth in Military Families: Exploring Uncertainty and Ambiguous Loss*

TLDR

Parental deployment creates ambiguity and uncertainty that disproportionately affect youth in military families, whose developing coping skills are challenged by the added demands of deployment. The study aimed to explore the nature of uncertainty and ambiguous loss experienced by youth in military families. The authors conducted focus groups with 12–18‑year‑old youth who had a parent deployed, primarily to war zones, to examine uncertainty, loss, resilience, and adjustment. Participants reported uncertainty, ambiguous boundaries, mental‑health changes, and relationship conflict, supporting ambiguous loss as a useful framework for guiding prevention and intervention.

Abstract

Abstract: Parental deployment has substantial effects on the family system, among them ambiguity and uncertainty. Youth in military families are especially affected by parental deployment because their coping repertoire is only just developing; the requirements of deployment become additive to normal adolescent developmental demands. Focus groups were used to inquire about uncertainty, loss, resilience, and adjustment among youth aged 12–18 that had a parent deployed, most often to a war zone. The nature of uncertainty and ambiguous loss was explored. Response themes included overall perceptions of uncertainty and loss, boundary ambiguity, changes in mental health, and relationship conflict. These accounts suggest that ambiguous loss is a useful concept for understanding the experiences of these youth and for structuring prevention and intervention efforts.