Cheng, Cheuk Hei2022-09-132022-09-132022-06https://hdl.handle.net/11299/241638University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. 2022. Major: Family Social Science. Advisor: Abigail Gewirtz. 1 computer file (PDF); 131 pages.There has been growing interest in understanding the post-deployment outcomes of deployed mothers, a growing subgroup within the military population. Despite growing research on military families in the last two decades, limited research has been conducted on mothers who deploy. Prior qualitative literature has suggested elevated risk encountered by deployed mothers, due to their dual identities of being a mother and a service member, but few quantitative studies have been conducted to support the qualitative findings. Also, no research has investigated the effectiveness of parenting interventions for deployed mothers. Study 1 employed a multiple regression approach to examine intervention outcomes (observed parenting and self-reported parental efficacy) at one-year follow up of After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools/ADAPT among deployed mothers. Results showed that deployed mothers showed improvement in observed positive parenting but no significant reductions in coercive parenting and no increases in parental efficacy. Study 2 explored the deployment risk pathways, based on the Military Family Stress Model, among deployed fathers, deployed mothers, and non-deployed mothers. Using a multi-group analytical approach, deployed fathers were compared with deployed mothers, while non-deployed mothers were compared with deployed fathers. Indirect pathways from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms to child outcomes via parenting were examined and compared among groups. Results showed that risk pathways were significant among deployed fathers and non-deployed mothers, but not deployed mothers. Group differences on indirect pathways were found, indicating that deployed fathers and non-deployed mothers had higher magnitude risk pathways than deployed mothers. Post-hoc analyses identified that among deployed mothers, military sexual trauma (MST), rather than PTSD symptoms, had indirect effect on child outcomes via parental efficacy. These findings highlight the importance of examining coercive discipline in providing interventions among deployed mothers. The second study highlighted the importance of military sexual trauma in affecting post-deployment adjustment among deployed mothers.endeployed mothersfamilygendermilitarymultigroupparentingThesis or Dissertation