Co-Created Psychosocial Resources to Support the Wellbeing of Children from Military Families: Usability Study

Title
Co-Created Psychosocial Resources to Support the Wellbeing of Children from Military Families: Usability Study
Publication Date
2025-11
Author(s)
Rogers, Marg
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8407-7256
Email: mbaber@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:mbaber
Sims, Margaret
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4686-4245
Email: msims7@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:msims7
Siebler, Philip
Gossner, Michelle
Thorsteinsson, Einar B
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2065-1989
Email: ethorste@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ethorste
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Switzerland
DOI
10.3390/educsci15111441
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/71560
Abstract

It is well known that early education and care lay the foundation for learning and wellbeing; however, resources available to support children with different life experiences can vary. For example, resources available to support early childhood educators working with young children from military families are particularly lacking. This is of concern, given that these children face a range of stressors in their daily lives. To address this gap, our interdisciplinary team used a co-creation framework to build a suite of free, online, psychosocial resources for the children and their parents, educators and support workers. To test the usability of the resources, we conducted an online survey with 83 Australian participants (parents, educators, and support workers) about their knowledge, skills and confidence in supporting these children and the children’s wellbeing. After the study, the participants were given access to the psychosocial resources for 6 to 12 months. Following this, an adapted survey was administered online (post-intervention) with 15 participants who had remained in the study during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative data was analysed using cross-tabulation and descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was analysed using inductive thematic analysis. In our pre-intervention studies, 61% of parents and almost 26% of educators were only partially confident in understanding children’s responses to military-specific stressors. In contrast, in the current study, this number had fallen to under 7% (combined participant group), with perceived improvements noted in their views on the children’s wellbeing. These exploratory findings with a small sample size highlight the potential benefit of targeted programmes, professional development, and accessible resources for parents, educators, and support workers who assist children from military families.

Link
Citation
Education Sciences, 15(11), p. 1-17
ISSN
2227-7102
Start page
1
End page
17
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International

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