The differential impact of COVID-19 on the psychological stress of post-9/11 veterans: Gender, race, and ethnicity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic turndowns, social restrictions, and family life alterations. The stress induced by the public health crisis and its consequences are beginning to be explored. This study examined stress experiences since the pandemic'sonset in work, financial, social, and health domainsamong a large sample of post-9/11, United States military veterans. The sample, who separated from active-duty service or deactivated from active status in a reserve component in 2016, completed an online survey (n = 3180) in 2020. Participants were 70% White non-Hispanic, 81% male, and had an average age of 38 years. Frequencies and descriptive statistics were calculated. Female veterans and veterans of colour reported significantly higher levels of stress across most life domains. The results suggest White, male, post-9/11 veterans may be somewhat protected from COVID-19 stress, but that the pandemic is exacerbatinghealth and social disparities experienced by post-9/11 veterans of colour and female veterans. Supports and comprehensive care, particularly targeted towardsat-risk populations, are likely needed to provide sufficient resources for resiliency during and after the pandemic.

Unidirectional and bidirectional relationships between financial parenting and financial self-efficacy: Does student loan status matter?

Using longitudinal data and a cross-lagged, multigroup panel design, we examined unidirectional and bidirectional relationships between financial parenting and young adults' financial self-efficacy during the transition to adulthood. Because increasing college costs and student loan debt have changed the financial landscape of achieving higher education, we examined effects over time under 2 distinct conditions: a debt-financed college education and a debt-free college education. Analyses included the effects of 2 types of financial parenting: implicit role modeling and explicit communication. The sample was drawn from the Arizona Pathways to Life Success (APLUS) project, a cohort study of college students enrolled full time at a public university in the fall of 2007. Participants provided data at 3 time points across 5 years. The sample included 850 student loan borrowers and 800 nonborrowers. We found unidirectional patterns for both nonborrowers and borrowers depending on the type of financial parenting: Parents' explicit financial communication before college predicted higher levels of financial self-efficacy during freshman year for nonborrowers, whereas parents' implicit modeling before college predicted higher levels of financial self-efficacy during freshman year for borrowers. Financial self-efficacy led to less frequent explicit parental financial communication for nonborrowers after college but was associated with more frequent explicit parental financial communication during college for borrowers. Our findings suggest that explicit communication regarding basic finance principles is likely sufficient to support financial self-efficacy in a debt-free context, whereas observing parents' responsible financial behaviors may be beneficial for young adults who incur student loan debt. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Parent Engagement in Online Mindfulness Exercises Within a Parent Training Program for Post-Deployed Military Families.

Mindfulness has drawn increased attention in prevention programs targeting parents. Commonly, mindfulness-based programs are provided to reduce parental stress and improve child outcomes. Less often, researchers incorporate a mindfulness-informed approach, integrating a low dose of mindfulness exercises into an existing evidence-based parent training model. Little is known about participant engagement with mindfulness exercises in such programs. This non-experimental study focuses on families who are at risk for impaired parenting due to the unique stressor of a parent's deployment to war. The goal is to examine military parents' online engagement in mindfulness exercises and associations between engagement and dispositional mindfulness within a web-enhanced parent training program. Online tracking records and self-reported data were obtained from 370 military parents (207 families) who were assigned to the program; at 6-month follow-up, 68.6% of these parents were retained (at least one parent reported from 75.4% of families). Results showed that nearly half (44.6%) of the parents engaged with the exercises. Participants who attended face-to-face group sessions (i.e., attendees) engaged throughout the intervention period whereas participants who never attended group sessions (i.e., non-attendees) mostly engaged during the first month in the program. Attendees and mothers engaged more than non-attendees and fathers. While engaged parents self-reported increased dispositional mindfulness at 6-month follow-up compared to baseline, only mothers' engagement accounted for a significant proportion of the variance (3%) in dispositional mindfulness at 6-month follow-up, after controlling for covariates. Implications for incorporating online mindfulness exercises into parent training are discussed in the context of programming for military families.

Patterns of Bullying and Sexual Harassment: Connections with Parents and Teachers as Direct Protective Factors.

Involvement in bullying and sexual harassment in adolescence is associated with a variety of internalizing, externalizing, and health-risk behaviors. Yet, the two behaviors are often studied independently. The current study examined how bullying and sexual harassment co-occur and whether social connections protected youth from risk patterns. The data for this study come from the 2013 Minnesota Student Survey (N = 121,311; 50% female, 74% White, 26% received free or reduced-price lunch; M age = 14.9, SD = 1.3). Students reported on bullying and sexual harassment victimization and perpetration. Using latent class analysis, youth were classified into five patterns: High-Risk of All Forms of Victimization and Perpetration (7%), Relational and Cyberbullying Victimization (17%), Sexual Harassment Victimization and Perpetration (8%), Physical Bullying Perpetration (6%), and Low-Risk (62%). Compared to the low-risk class, the four other classes had lower levels of social connections, particularly with teachers and parents. Older youth (9th and 11th grade students) were at greater risk for the sexual harassment pattern, while younger youth (8th grade students) were at greater risk for bullying patterns. The results indicate that efforts to reduce bullying should also address sexual harassment and social connections with adults.

If You Build It, Will They Come? Patterns of Internet-Based and Face-To-Face Participation in a Parenting Program for Military Families.

BACKGROUND: Some evidence suggests parents are drawn to media-based interventions over face-to-face interventions, but little is known about the factors associated with parents' use of Internet-based or Internet-enhanced programs, especially among military families. Research is needed to understand characteristics of parents who may be most likely to use online components or attend face-to-face meetings in order to ensure maximum engagement. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined characteristics that predict various patterns of Internet use and face-to-face attendance in a parenting program designed for military families. METHODS: An ecological framework guided analysis of differences in patterns of Internet-based use and face-to-face attendance by parents' demographic characteristics (gender, education, employment, and child age), incentives offered, and number of months the parent was deployed. We reported differences in the total number of online components completed over the 14 modules, total number of face-to-face sessions attended, and the use of different types of online components accessed (videos, downloadable handouts, mindfulness exercises, knowledge checks, and downloadable summaries). Then, we computed multinomial logistic regression accounting for nestedness (parents within families) to examine associations between demographic, programmatic, and military-related characteristics and patterns of engagement (use of online components and attendance at face-to-face sessions). RESULTS: Just over half (52.2%, 193/370) of the participants used the online components at least once, and the majority of participants (73.2%, 271/370) attended at least 1 face-to-face session. An examination of different patterns of participation revealed that compared with those who participated primarily in face-to-face sessions, parents who participated online but had little face-to-face participation were more likely to have received incentives than those who did not (95% CI 1.9-129.7). Among participants who had been deployed, those who had earned a 4-year degree (95% CI 1.0-2.2) and those who had been offered incentives to participate online (95% CI 2.1-58.6) were more likely to be highly engaged in online components and attend face-to-face compared with those who attended primarily face-to-face. However, those with a high number of months of deployment (95% CI 0.6-1.0) were less likely to be in the pattern of highly engaged in online components and face-to-face attendance. Compared with those who participated primarily face-to-face, deployed mothers were about 4 times more likely to engage in moderate online use with face-to-face attendance than deployed fathers (95% CI 1.21-11.83) and participate primarily online (95% CI 0.77-25.20). CONCLUSIONS: Results imply that parents may be drawn to different delivery options of a parenting program (online components vs face-to-face sessions) depending on their education level, incentives to engage in online components, and their military-related experience. Results suggest potential directions for tailoring Internet-based interventions.

A Comparison of Three Online Recruitment Strategies for Engaging Parents.

Family scientists can face the challenge of effectively and efficiently recruiting normative samples of parents and families. Utilizing the Internet to recruit parents is a strategic way to find participants where they already are, enabling researchers to overcome many of the barriers to in-person recruitment. The present study was designed to compare three online recruitment strategies for recruiting parents: e-mail Listservs, Facebook, and Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Analyses revealed differences in the effectiveness and efficiency of data collection. In particular, MTurk resulted in the most demographically diverse sample, in a short period of time, with little cost. Listservs reached a large number of participants and resulted in a comparatively homogeneous sample. Facebook was not successful in recruiting a general sample of parents. Findings provide information that can help family researchers and practitioners be intentional about recruitment strategies and study design.