Master of Science / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Amber Vennum / Using a sample of 109 students at a Midwestern university with divorced or separated parents I explored a) how sibling order and young adults’ age at parental divorce or separation impacted their experience of boundary ambiguity, parentification, stress, and family satisfaction and support, b) whether parentification mediated the effects of boundary ambiguity on stress, family support and family satisfaction, and c) whether sibling order moderated the relationship between these variables. I found that the child’s age at parental divorce/separation was positively correlated with boundary ambiguity, and negatively correlated with parentification, stress, family satisfaction, and social support. First or only children reported higher rates of parentification, specifically taking on a spousal role with their parents than younger siblings. Further, in divorced/separated families boundary ambiguity was positively related to young adults’ stress and negatively related to their levels of family satisfaction and family support both directly and indirectly through parentification. However, sibling order was not found to moderate the relationships between boundary ambiguity, parentification, family support, family satisfaction, and stress. Implications for theory and intervention are discussed.

Since the beginning of the Global War on Terror, almost three million children, spouses, and adult dependents have been directly affected by the deployment experiences of more than two million service members. This study examined the applicability of the Contextual Model of Family Stress (Boss, 2002) to a reintegrating military family sample (N = 228) by assessing the effects of external, military-related contextual factors (i.e., rank, component, combat exposure, length of time home post-deployment, and cumulative length of deployments) and internal contextual factors of boundary ambiguity and family and deployment-related ambivalence on family functioning. Quantitative data were taken from a national survey of service members from multiple branches of the United States military. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, as a whole, the addition of the military-related contextual factors, boundary ambiguity, and the ambivalence variables made a significant contribution to the prediction of family functioning, controlling for all previously entered variables. Service members from lower ranks and those who had been home for longer periods of time reported poorer family functioning. Higher degrees of boundary ambiguity and family ambivalence were also associated with poorer family functioning. The results from this study extend existing theoretical applications of the Contextual Model (Boss, 2002) to military families through the incorporation of boundary ambiguity and ambivalence. Findings will also inform interventions aimed at promoting family resilience in the military population during the post-deployment period. / Ph. D.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Trudy Salsberry / The purpose of this study was to gain better insight into the perceptions of mothers, caregivers, and school-age children in regard to educational experiences (defined as social, academic, and behavioral by Kansas Department of Education, 2012) during maternal Army Reserve component deployments. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, reserve component deployments have become an integral part of the total military strategy. Because the reserve component could be trained and equipped for a fraction of the active forces, fiscal realities dictated moving routine operational responsibilities to the reserve component (National Guard and Reserve Equipment Report for 2013, 2012). As more citizen soldiers were called to active duty deployments, the effects on children who did not typically identify with being in a military family were particularly important to their well-being. This qualitative case study looked at perceptions regarding maternal reserve component deployments through the theoretical perspective lens of ambiguous loss and boundary ambiguity. “Ambiguous Loss Theory” was a type of family stress termed by Boss (1999) that identified the loss or absence of a family member or loved one that evoked emotional uncertainty and ambiguity in the family (p. 7). “Boundary Ambiguity” was how the family interpreted or perceived the situation of ambiguous loss (Boss, 2002). Research applying Boss’ Ambiguous Loss Theory showed that deployment of a family member in a military family was a major stress factor for military children and caused emotional uncertainty and ambiguity in the family (Faber, Willerton, Clymber, Macdermid, & Weiss, 2008; Huebner, Mancini, Wilcox, Grass & Grass, 2007). As mothers were still recognized as the primary caregivers of children in the United States (Galinsky, Aumann, & Bond, 2011), the absence of a mother due to deployment significantly shifted responsibilities not only to the new primary caregiver, but children also took on new responsibilities as well. Role ambiguity began prior to the deployment, continued during the deployment, and could have the most overwhelming effects post-deployment as family members reintegrated the deployed parent back into the family (Huebner et. al, 2007). Utilizing a qualitative multiple case study, the research was conducted from a social constructivist worldview. Criterion sampling was used to garner four total cases for the study Data from both interviews and documents were collected. The purpose of this study was to gain better insight into the perceptions of mothers/soldiers, caregivers, and school-age children regarding their roles in the educational experiences (defined as social, academic, and behavioral by Kansas Department of Education, 2012) during maternal Army Reserve component deployments. Based on the data, six themes emerged that addressed the overarching research questions of this study: • When deployed mothers/soldiers did not maintain a role in the child’s educational experiences, families perceived role definitions as difficult to establish. • Communication during deployment was a key factor in establishing roles of mother/soldier, child, and caregiver. • Clearly defined roles in educational experiences of the child were a key factor in reintegration. • Schools were perceived as a resource to families experiencing deployment. • Children perceived their roles as maintaining or improving their educational experiences as ways to support mother/soldier during deployment. • When roles in children’s educational experiences were not clearly defined, children perceived stress.

Refugees from war zones often have missing significant others. A loss without confirmation is described as an ambiguous loss. This physical absence with simultaneous mental persistence can be accompanied by economic, social or legal problems, boundary ambiguity (i.e., uncertainty about who belongs to the family system), and can have a negative impact on mental health. The aim of this study was to identify sociodemographic and loss-related predictors for prolonged grief, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and somatization in treatment-seeking Syrian refugees with post-traumatic stress symptoms in Germany experiencing ambiguous loss. For the present study, data were based on the treatment-seeking baseline sample of the “Sanadak” randomized-controlled trial, analyzing a subsample of 47 Syrian refugees with post-traumatic stress symptoms in Germany experiencing ambiguous loss. Sociodemographic and loss-related questions were applied, along with standardized instruments for symptoms of prolonged grief (ICG), anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9), PTSD (PDS-5) and somatization (PHQ-15). Linear regression models were used to predict mental health outcomes. Having lost a close family member and higher boundary ambiguity showed a statistically significant association with higher severity in prolonged grief. The overall model for somatization reached statistical significance, while no predictor independently did. Boundary ambiguity showed a statistically significant positive association with depression, while the overall model showed no statistically significant associations. Boundary ambiguity and missing family members seemed to be important predictors for prolonged grief. These findings support the importance of reunification programs and suggest an inclusion of the topic into psychosocial support structures, e.g., including psychoeducational elements on boundary ambiguity in support groups for traumatized individuals and families experiencing ambiguous loss. Further research is needed for a more detailed understanding of the impact of ambiguous loss on refugee populations.

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