Exploring the context of self-care for youth in military families. (January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lucier-Greer, Mallory; McCoy, Megan; Gale, Jerry; Goetz, Joseph W.; Mancini, Jay A.
• Is Part Of: Children and youth services review. Volume 108(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Subjects: Youth self-care -- Anxiety -- Military -- Childcare -- Bioecological theory -- Context; Social work with children -- Periodicals; Social work with youth -- Periodicals; Adolescent -- Periodicals; Child Welfare -- Periodicals; Social Work -- Periodicals; Service social aux enfants -- Périodiques; Service social à la jeunesse -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.104599
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-7409

Abstract

Highlights: For military youth, being female, a minority, and being older were associated with higher anxiety. Self-care was initially associated with higher anxiety but not when accounting for relevant bioecological factors. Self-efficacy was a salient factor in buffering the relationship between self-care and anxiety. Abstract: Unsupervised time among youth, known as 'self-care, ' has been linked to higher levels of anxiety. The issue of anxiety in self-care is especially salient for youth in military families, because childcare is an important issue for service member retention and focus. We hypothesized that self-care is an appropriate developmental task within certain contexts. Bronfenbrenner's Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) framework was employed to explore bioecological factors that buffer the anxiety of military youth in self-care ( N = 1036; mean age = 13.39 years old). Survey results were analyzed to identify factors that moderate the relationship between levels of self-care and anxiety using hierarchical regression analyses. Findings supported the study hypothesis, such that there was an initial positive relationship between more self-care and greater anxiety (e.g., time spent alone correlated with anxiety), and the relationship between self-care and anxiety was moderated when accounting for personal characteristics and context. Specifically, gender (being female) and age (being older) were associated with higher levels of anxiety. Additionally, self-efficacy and geographic location (living inside vs outside the continental US) had a moderating effect on the relationship between self-care and anxiety.