Parenting During War

Objective: In this article, we review the effects of war on children via their impact on parenting and propose a novel family stress model to inform research and intervention development. Method: Focusing specifically on families living in active war zones, we conducted a review of the empirical literature on parenting and child adjustment, and parenting interventions during wartime. We excluded parental deployment to war if the family at home was not residing in the war zone. Results: A growing body of literature highlights challenges to parenting practices, cognitions and emotions during war, and parental adaptations to living in a war zone but we could find no parenting intervention research reporting outcomes of programs during war. Conclusions: While emerging literature highlights the impact of war on parenting and potential targets for intervention, there is a critical dearth of research on strategies and programs to support parents during wars. We propose a model to guide future research and intervention development for parenting during war and some examples of ways to accomplish this.