Dis-Connected: Young Adults’ Experience of Growing Up With a Canadian Service Member Parent With an Operational Stress Injury

Iverson, Heather

Dis-Connected: Young Adults’ Experience of Growing Up With a Canadian Service Member Parent With an Operational Stress Injury

dc.contributor.advisor	Robertson, Sharon Elaine
dc.contributor.author	Iverson, Heather
dc.contributor.committeemember	Robertson, Sharon Elaine
dc.contributor.committeemember	Domene, José F.
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kawalilak, Colleen
dc.date	2024-06
dc.date.accessioned	2024-04-12T15:59:31Z
dc.date.available	2024-04-12T15:59:31Z
dc.date.issued	2024-04-09
dc.description.abstract	Military-connected families in Canada have expressed concerns regarding the impact of having a parent with an operational stress injury (OSI), such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), on their children’s well-being. A recent trend in research has been focused on examining the impacts of parents’ PTSD on the mental health of military-connected children (MCC). However, there remains a paucity of studies that capture the perspective of the MCC themselves, particularly within a Canadian context. This study aimed to explore how young adult children of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) veteran service members make sense of their experience of growing up with a parent with an OSI. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five young adults aged 19 to 23 years, and the transcripts were analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). From this analysis, five Group Experiential Themes (GETs) emerged: (a) In a Way, I Lost My Dad, (b) Turbulent Waters at Home, (c) Don’t Rock the Boat, (d) In the Dark, and (e) Duty to Care. The participants’ accounts shed light on the complexity of dealing with a father who was present juxtaposed with a father who was absent. Participants’ narratives depicted tumultuous home environments where maintaining family harmony was a honed skill. Moreover, the pervasive uncertainty surrounding their father’s OSI during their upbringing called for participant resilience and resourcefulness in coping with a situation marked by limited information and communication. Furthermore, amidst the confusion and destabilizing circumstances, participants remained steadfast in their commitment to their families. These findings are discussed in the context of relevant literature. The strengths and limitations of the study are considered and implications for practice and research are presented.
dc.identifier.citation	Iverson, H. (2024). Dis-connected: young adults’ experience of growing up with a Canadian service member parent with an operational stress injury (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/118399
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	military-connected children
dc.subject	operational stress injury
dc.subject	posttraumatic stress disorder
dc.subject	interpretative phenomenological analysis
dc.subject.classification	Educational Psychology
dc.title	Dis-Connected: Young Adults’ Experience of Growing Up With a Canadian Service Member Parent With an Operational Stress Injury
dc.type	master thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Education Graduate Program – Educational Psychology
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Master of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I require a thesis withhold – I need to delay the release of my thesis due to a patent application, and other reasons outlined in the link above. I have/will need to submit a thesis withhold application.