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

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.

1. Introduction

The developmental niche experienced by children living in Australian Defence Force (ADF) and veteran families is characterised by a range of stressors, risks and protective factors, not commonly understood by most other Australian families and communities. This is of concern given the number of Australian families with current or past engagement with the ADF: one in twenty Australian households have a current or previously serving member (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021). Whilst there is variation in the terms used to describe these families, in this study, we describe families with current serving members as Defence families and those with previously serving members as veteran families, but together they are military families.

Interestingly, 30% of current members and 50% of veterans live in regional and rural communities; a higher proportion of veterans in these areas compared to the Australian average (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021), which in itself adds an additional layer of complexity to these families given the disproportionate lack of services and support available in rural and regional areas nationally (Shiner et al., 2022).

Being part of regional and rural Australian communities provides benefits in accessing nature and close-knit communities; however, it negatively impacts their ability to access mental health services despite having a high need for these services (Shiner et al., 2022). Within Australian Defence families, ADF family members, especially partners, experience poor marital adjustment and life satisfaction, unique caregiving stressors, and significantly higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety, compared to the civilian population (MacDonnell et al., 2016). Without access to specialist supports, parents, educators and support workers may not have the knowledge, skills and confidence to support the children’s wellbeing and build their coping strategies. Recognising the impact of long-term challenges, the Interim Report of the Royal Commission of Defence and Veteran Suicide stated:

“The risk of intergenerational trauma runs high when children’s needs are not seen and the required services are not put in place to support the child’s psychosocial development.”

(Commonwealth of Australia, 2022, p. 395)

The term psychosocial pertains to the mix of social factors and individual factors, such as behaviours and thoughts (Maree, 2022). Psychosocial resources can support the individual and social factors that help to cope with stress and maintain mental health. Such resources influence how people understand stressors, manage emotional responses, and can be cultivated to foster resilience and wellbeing (Kohrt & Song, 2018; Taylor & Seeman, 1999). Psychosocial resources are designed to improve the wellbeing of the target cohort. The definition of wellbeing is debatable, given the differences across cultures and disciplines (Jarden & Roache, 2023). In this study, we define wellbeing as having optimal health. While we recognise that physical and mental health are intertwined, we focus on mental wellbeing in this article.

Children in Military Families

Children in Defence families have a number of protective factors, including a stable income and steady parental employment. Defence families may be provided with housing or housing support, possibly reducing accommodation stress as they face frequent relocations (Defence Housing Australia, 2025). They also face frequent and prolonged parental deployments and training away from the family home, but are given support to contact their family online and by more traditional means, such as free postage for care parcels to send to the absent member. Transition from the military (also called discharge) can be stressful for families as it involves many changes and the removal of access to many support systems, a change in identity, and potentially, navigating claims through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Globally, and within Australia, we know that military service impacts the whole family (Commonwealth of Australia, 2022; Cramm et al., 2020).

Frequent and prolonged parental deployments and training create high levels of household transition (Hinojosa et al., 2022; Veri et al., 2021). Children respond to this instability in multiple ways: physically, emotionally, socially and cognitively (Rogers et al., 2023). Parental deployment is preceded by many training episodes to prepare the member, resulting in multiple household adjustments for the children and the at-home parent or carer. Lengthy deployments might mean reintegration with the parent partway through the deployment as they have annual leave, creating another set of transitions. Overall, the members of the family change as deployments occur, making reintegration challenging. Individual growth and independence can mean drifting apart from family members (O’Neal & Mancini, 2021). Lengthy deployments also create challenges for the family, as long deployments include increased risk that the member is exposed to the risk of injuries (physical, mental and moral). The Commonwealth of Australia (2022, p. 87) acknowledged this by stating:

Family members … can be significantly affected when serving or ex-serving members experience poor mental or physical health. A key question becomes, ‘who is caring for the family?’ … the impact of service and deployment has been detrimental to their wellbeing, particularly their mental health. These families are a vulnerable cohort.

This is particularly problematic for the child and partners, who are already dealing with the changes in the member’s behaviour, but then are at risk of secondary transference of trauma, or vicarious trauma (Jamieson et al., 2023). Significantly, the impact of trauma and parent suicidality can have a major impact on family welfare and the children’s psychosocial development (MacDonnell et al., 2016).

Relocations are a major source of stress to military families (Nassif et al., 2025), and babies and young children are particularly affected by household stress (Bullock et al., 2022). Many of the children need to attend multiple early childhood services and schools and have trouble bonding with educators. This is an issue because close bonds with educators are the hallmark of quality education (Spilt & Koomen, 2022; Spiteri, 2022). This was echoed in the 2019 Defence Families Survey (Directorate of People Intelligence and Research, 2020), where parents with dependent children communicated that their children’s education was their most important consideration regarding the Defence lifestyle. Very young children are particularly susceptible to multiple transitions, given the importance of the early years for children’s development (Baulos et al., 2024; Laaninen et al., 2024; von Suchodoletz et al., 2023). Frequent relocations can also mean children shuffle between waiting lists or need to attend several different services each week in order to patch together the necessary hours of care. These kinds of arrangements are characteristic of many regional, rural and remote locations where there is a significant lack of services, thus competition for places is fierce (Hurley, 2022). Frequent and sudden relocations make it very difficult for Defence families to navigate systems that not only vary from state to state but may vary from town to town. Moving between educational services and communities makes it difficult for children to sustain ongoing friendships (Zurlinden et al., 2021).

Frederick and Siebler (2023) revealed that 66% of permanent ADF members are married or in a relationship, and 49% are members with dependents. These are military personnel with spouses and/or children. Members cite work–life balance and family reasons when discharging. This means military organisations have become increasingly concerned as they seek to recruit, retain and build their forces (Strader & Smith, 2022; Woodall et al., 2023).

Despite the challenges military families face, the support for them has been ad hoc (Directorate of People Intelligence and Research, 2020). Barriers exist to families accessing support programmes and services. Less than half (46%) of permanent ADF members with dependent children knew that the ADF provided educational assistance for their children (Directorate of People Intelligence and Research, 2020). It also revealed that most members were unaware of support services such as pre-deployment information and Defence Member and Family Support agency education sessions. Such findings were highlighted by the Commonwealth of Australia (2022, p. 86), which reported:

Consistently, we have heard that families feel marginalised and invisible… even though family support is a significant protective factor for the serving or ex-serving member’s health and wellbeing. We have heard of the invisibility of children and families.

Despite this, some services and supports provided by the ADF act as a protective factor for families (Rogers et al., 2025b). About half of the families who made use of the Defence-affiliated supports before the 2019 survey found them helpful (Directorate of People Intelligence and Research, 2020). However, utilisation remains low, indicating families might be looking elsewhere for their support, or not finding culturally relevant supports. Adding to this challenge, Defence does not report data on risk and protective factors.

Defence families are known to access peer and community support within their tightknit community (Siebler, 2015). They gather support from family, friends, educators, Defence School Mentors, support workers, health providers and online communities. (Defence School Mentors are support workers who work in schools where there are high numbers of Defence families). The present study sought to address the resource gap for children from these families. We also wanted to know whether these resources were usable, and examine whether the parents, educators and support workers could be better supported with age and culturally appropriate tools to support the children’s understanding and coping strategies. Our research question was: Can a free, research-based, online co-created programme impact: (i) confidence in supporting these children; (ii) perceptions of young children’s social and emotional wellbeing; (iii) children’s responses to parental deployment and other unique stressors of life within a military family? In order to test these research questions, we hypothesise that the intervention programme has impact on (i) confidence in supporting these children; (ii) perceptions of young children’s social and emotional wellbeing; and (iii) children’s responses to parental deployment and other unique stressors of life within a military family.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Participants

Inclusion criteria for participants were:

• located in any of the Australian states and territories

And either

• civilian parents within a Defence or veteran family, with children aged 2–8 years,

Or

• early childhood educators or support workers (such as Defence School Mentors) who were supporting children from military families.

Engagement was lower than expected due to complex COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors such as rolling lockdowns, homeschooling, extra workload and retrenchments during the data collection period in 2021.

In the pre-intervention phase, 70 participants answered most questions (41 parents, 27 educators and two support workers), while a few questions had only data from the educators and support workers (N = 29) (hereafter called participant Group 1). In the post-intervention phase, there were fifteen participants, including nine parents (60%), four educators (27%), and two support workers (13%) (hereafter called participant Group 2). All participants identified as female and ranged in age from 29 to 61 years. Participants were associated with military bases in all geographic states and territories of Australia, except Tasmania. The length of time the participants had been supporting children in military families ranged from less than 12 months to 14 years. Participants in the pre-intervention phases could not be linked to the post-intervention data collection due to the data-gathering protocol.

2.2. Study Design

This online survey study is part of a larger research project, the Child and Family Resilience Programs, led by the University of New England in collaboration with researchers from Central Queensland University and was undertaken in 2021. The study employed a pre–post, cross-sectional, mixed-method design. As such, the study was underpinned by a pragmatist methodology aimed at “creating useful knowledge” that “addresses current challenges and opportunities” (Gillespie et al., 2024, p. ix). Thus, the study design is driven by the realities of every-day life in seeking to address the research questions.

Table 1. Overview of study design.

Step	Activity	Participants
1	Pre-intervention survey generating quantitative data only	Participant Group 1 = 70
2	Online intervention	Engagement not tracked
3	Post intervention survey including quantitative and qualitative data	Participant Group 2 = 15

summarises the study design, which is explained in further detail below, noting in particular the co-creation framework used to design all elements of the study.

The quantitative survey questions were co-designed by the project research team members, affected community members, and partners, and informed by existing literature on resilience and wellbeing measures (Blount et al., 2008). In Step 1, the questions were designed to create a baseline picture of the issues facing the target groups, and the resources they called upon to support those needs. In Step 3, the focus of the data collection shifted to their experiences with the resources. The qualitative sections included open-ended questions to provide an in-depth exploration of the effectiveness of the resources to support the children’s challenges, supports and coping mechanisms within military families (Singer & Couper, 2017). An example of one of these questions was ‘Please say a few words about why you would/would not recommend the programme.’

Participant Group 1 filled in a pre-study survey, with the results published for the parent cohort (N = 41) (Rogers et al., 2023) and the educator cohort (N = 27) (Rogers et al., 2025c), with the support worker’s data unpublished (N = 2). All Group 1 participants were then given access to a password-protected online learning platform featuring co-created, research-based resources designed to support the psychosocial needs of children (2–8 years) from Australian military families. The site also contained a suite of modules, each for their parents, educators, and support workers to build their knowledge, skills and confidence in supporting this cohort. The participants were asked to engage with the resources to build their own knowledge, skills and confidence, and to engage the children with the relevant children’s resources, depending on their family context and needs. Engagement was not tracked, and there was no set amount of engagement required; however, in some questions, participants could indicate they were not able to answer the question due to a lack of in-depth engagement with the resources. Importantly, the co-creation framework (Vargas et al., 2022) was not piloted or tested as part of this study; however, further information on its use in the overall study is published.

2.3. Procedure

Ethics approval was gained from the University of New England Human Research Ethics Committee (HE21-027). The team used convenience sampling to recruit participants for Group 1 through research-based news articles and social media, in collaboration with key project partners. The survey was made available for participants online. After engaging with the resources, Group 1 were asked to complete a post-intervention online survey. Those who did became Participant Group 2.

2.4. Data Analysis

Qualitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise and describe the features of the data set, while tables were used to display the differences between categorical variables. We employed inductive thematic analysis for the qualitative findings (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Themes arose in an iterative manner from the data and were also influenced by the literature. In the next section, we present these findings individually; however, in the discussion, we look at the intersection between the two.

3. Results

3.1. Quantitative Data

Participants in both groups were asked to rate their knowledge, skills, experience and confidence in supporting children from military families. The results in

Table 2. Participants’ understanding and confidence in supporting young children from military and veteran families pre- and post-intervention, showing frequency (percentage).

Question	Strongly Agree	Partly Agree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Partly Disagree	Strongly Disagree
I have an understanding of the experiences of children from Defence families
Pre (N = 29) *	15 (51.7)	14 (48.3)	0	0	0
Post (N = 15)	11 (73.3)	4 (26.7)	0	0	0
I have an understanding of the responses of children to military family stressors (e.g., parental deployment, family transitions, frequent relocations and other stressors such as service-related mental health conditions and physical injuries)
Pre (N = 70)	29 (41.4)	27 (38.6)	5 (7.1)	9 (12.9)	0
Post (N = 15)	11 (73.3)	4 (26.7)	0	0	0
I have experience providing support to Defence families (including parents, extended family and older siblings)
Pre (N = 29) *	14 (48.3)	10 (34.5)	1 (3.4)	2 (6.9)	2 (6.9)
Post (N = 15)	9 (60.0)	5 (33.3)	1 (6.7)	0	0
I feel confident providing emotional support to children from Defence families
Pre (N = 70)	19 (27.1)	33 (47.2)	6 (8.6)	12 (17.1)	0
Post (N = 15)	9 (60.0)	5 (33.3)	0	1 (6.7)	0

* No parent data available for this question.

suggest that the intervention increased their ability across the different outcome measures. However, due to the small number of participants who answered both the pre- and post-questions, there is too little power to run any meaningful inferential statistical analysis.

Participants were asked to focus on one child whom they supported and rate that child’s social and emotional wellbeing indicators, see

Table 3. Perceptions of participants’ social and emotional wellbeing of young children from military and veteran families.

Wellbeing Indicators	Most of the Time	About Half of the Time	Rarely	No Response
Keeps interested in things
Pre (N = 70)	40 (57.2%)	23 (32.9%)	3 (4.3%)	4 (5.7%)
Post (N = 15)	6 (40%)	6 (40%)	0	3 (20%)
Likes challenges
Pre (N = 70)	25 (35.7%)	29 (41.4%)	12 (17.2%)	4 (5.7%)
Post (N = 15)	5 (33.3%)	5 (33.3%)	2 (13.3%)	3 (20%)
Strives to reach/her goals
Pre (N = 70)	28 (40%)	27 (38.6%)	9 (12.8%)	6 (8.6%)
Post (N = 15)	4 (26.7%)	7 (46.7%)	1 (6.7%)	3 (20%)
Adapts easily to new situations
Pre (N = 70)	19 (27.1%)	32 (45.7%)	14 (20%)	5 (7.2%)
Post (N = 15)	4 (26.7%)	7 (46.7%)	1 (6.7%)	3 (20%)
Enjoys being with other people
Pre (N = 70)	44 (62.9%)	18 (25.7%)	3 (4.3%)	5 (7.1%)
Post (N = 15)	10(66.7%)	2(13.3%)	0	3(20%)
Enjoys being with his/her friends
Pre (N = 70)	54 (77.2%)	9 (12.9%)	2 (2.8%)	5 (7.1%)
Post (N = 15)	12 (80%)	0	0	3 (20%)
Seeks out activities that make him/her happy
Pre (N = 70)	50 (71.5%)	13 (18.6%)	2 (2.8%)	5 (7.1%)
Post (N = 15)	3 (20%)	6 (40%)	3 (20%)	3 (20%)
Willing to share his/her positive emotions with others
Pre (N = 70)	39 (55.7%)	19 (27.2%)	7 (10%)	5 (7.1%)
Post (N = 15)	3 (20%)	7 (46.7%)	2 (13.3%)	3 (20%)
Willing to share his/her negative emotions with others
Pre (N = 70)	17 (24.3%)	36 (51.4%)	12 (17.2%)	5 (7.1%)
Post (N = 15)	2 (13.3%)	7 (46.7%)	3 (20%)	3 (20%)

The first row in each set shows the total number of participants that answered the pre-intervention questions, while the second row shows the total number of participants who answered the post-intervention questions.

. The focus on only one child is a limitation of the study and tempers the results. The results are mixed, as could be expected given that there was only one child selected by each participant without clear selection criteria. They were then asked to report the perceived level of behaviour change the child experienced after engaging with the programme (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The participants suggested that there were apparent improvements in observable behaviours, such as the number of times the child loses control of their emotions (5 children—see Figure 1) and the child’s ability to explain why they are upset (6 children—see Figure 2).

Participants in Group 1 suggested they had, prior to the study, lacked access to resources and training, whereas responses from those in Group 2 reflected their recent access to the intervention material (see

Table 4. Access to resources and/or training opportunities.

Question	Strongly Agree	Partly Agree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Partly Disagree	Strongly Disagree	No Response
I have access to quality, research-based Australian resources to provide support to young children from Defence families
Pre % * (N = 29)	1 (3.4%)	5 (17.2%)	6 (20.7%)	8 (27.6%)	9 (31%)	0
Post n (%) (N = 15)	5 (33.3%)	4 (26.7%)	3 (20.0%)	1 (6.7%)	1 (6.7%)	1 (6.7%)
I have received training or professional development regarding supporting children from Defence families
Pre % * (N = 29)	1 (3.5%)	5 (17.2%)	1 (3.5%)	6 (20.7%)	16 (55.2%)	0
Post n (%) (N = 15)	3 (20.0%)	2 (13.3%)	1 (6.7%)	3 (20.0%)	5 (33.3%)	1 (6.7%)

* There is no parent data for this question.

). The results suggest that, before the development of the intervention modules, there was a need for additional resources and professional training opportunities to improve the lives of this cohort of children.

Participants were asked to list the types of resources they were using to support these children. Participants could choose multiple responses (see

Table 5. Summary of type of resources used by participants providing support to young children from military families.

	Pre-Intervention		Post-Intervention
Resources	N = 70	%	N = 15	%
Children’s storybooks (hard copy)	37	52.9	13	86.7
Children’s online programmes	3	4.3	3	20.0
Educational games	12	17.1	5	33.3
Activity books/project books	22	31.4	4	26.7
Other activities	23	33	1	6.7

). Group 1 suggested they were not using storybooks or online resources as much as other resources. Given the intervention focused on providing these kinds of resources, it is not surprising that many more in Group 2 reported accessing these kinds of resources.

Group 2 participants were asked to indicate their likelihood of recommending the resources to others. The majority said they would definitely or probably recommend the resources (Figure 3).

3.2. Qualitative Data

Qualitative data were collected from participants in Group 2, focusing on their use of the resources. The four themes included how the resources (a) facilitated emotional support and coping strategies, (b) supported military family life, (c) would be appropriate for others, and (d) could be improved for a better end-user experience.

3.2.1. Facilitating Emotional Support and Coping Strategies

When asked if the resources increased their confidence in supporting the children’s emotions and fostering their resilience, participants provided several examples. They described how the resources reinforced existing practices, supported children’s sense of belonging and wellbeing, and provided a springboard for discussion and the development of children’s agency.

Yes, some of the books and apps have reinforced the processes I was already following and even fine tuning some of them.

Families feel supported. Children feel [a] sense of belonging and [can] strengthen their emotional wellbeing.

Yes. When given guidance and age appropriate resources to use, I am able to confidently have difficult discussions with my little ones and those around me.

It gives ownership to children that they are doing something while waiting for the arrival [of an absent parent]. It prepares the child for departure in a systematic manner and reduces the trauma related to separation.

3.2.2. Supporting Military Family Life

When asked to share an anecdote about how their confidence has improved when supporting children with military family life, such as transitions, relocations, parental deployment and training and parental injuries, the participants shared a range of responses. These included how the resources supported children’s separation anxiety, helped them cope with change, prepared them for relocations, prompted self-reflection, and provided an opportunity for a deeper connection between the children and the professional.

For children aged two years old, stories, activities and anything that they create as part of departure, wait and arrival periods affects in easing their separation anxieties and engagement at the service.

[The] 2-year-old [is] responding positively to the change. 3 years old feeling confident in sharing how they feel.

On relocation with a 4-year-old and a 1-year-old, we have used a routine where we could (had to be very flexible on certain days), we read relocation-specific books in the lead up to and while we were in transition accommodation. In settling in we accessed info from apps/online to alleviate/address anxiety around finding new friends. In doing so, I was also able to handle the move better than previous moves, especially with the added stress of two kids.

When working with primary school-aged children, the ECDP has provided relevant resources that link the students’ lived experiences to support materials. This reflection of self has created a connection with resources and therefore worked to build the relationship between Defence School Mentor and students.

3.2.3. Recommending the Resources and Feedback

Participants were able to provide reasons as to why they would or would not recommend the resources to others and provide general feedback. Their feedback highlighted the value of resources that resonated with their own experiences, supported curriculum planning, and enabled professionals to better assist the target cohort. Participants also appreciated that the resources adopted a research-informed, strengths-based approach and were perceived to support children’s learning.

It is great for students to see their own experiences reflected within resources.

It’s a great resource. Helpful in planning and implementing curriculum.

I think these resources help educators and clinicians outside of defence understand and support defence kids.

As an educator, have a resource coming from research will help in making it relevant to evidence-based and strengths-based service.

Great reference material.

[The] more the merrier. As many as resources can be provided for educators as well as for the families will help in collaborating and partnership with families. This will then support in bringing [the] best learning outcomes for children.

3.2.4. Recommendations for Increased End-User Experience

Participants provided valuable feedback on ways to enhance the end-user experience and improve the accessibility of the resources. Many of these issues were addressed before the resources were released publicly, and others were addressed once further funding became available.

Table 6. Recommendations for improvement and actions taken.

Participant Comment	Explanation of the Issue	Implemented Solution
The format of the resources needs refining as it’s a bit clunky at the moment. The info is all there, but a regular website rather than this style of layout would be easier to follow. It’s a good resource, but it needs some refinement in development. I struggled to access it every time I tried to log in and then gave up half the time. An easily accessible app that keeps you logged in and sends weekly notifications to remind you of its resources would be a lot better for mums trying to juggle everything in the kids’ world and full-time work. The emails were so few and far between that I forgot it existed for a while. Better images, graphics and design are needed. I had a lot of trouble accessing and using the programme. I’m usually not too bad with technology, but I really struggled and gave up. So, I never got to use the program, which was a little disappointing.	The resources were on a password protected learning platform that some users had trouble accessing. There was no index system to easily locate specific resources. The headings for each online module tile needed refinement to support the user.	The resources were made available without the need for an account (as was initially planned after the resources were tested). An index tile was added to each suite of resources for children, parents, educators, and support workers. The headings were refined to support usability.
It’s a great concept, just needs some work on usability. Ideally, it could be bundled with a family app, as I found the resources helpful for myself as a defence spouse, as well as the kids. If there was a way to create a user profile to address each member of the family, DVA [Department of Veterans’ Affairs] and mental health info, etc, for the serving member, community resources, mental health tips, etc, for the spouse and the age-appropriate guides for each of the kids. I found there were a lot of resources… perhaps too many… it looked like I’d have to do a lot of work to use these resources efficiently. I found clicking on the links a bit clunky and would have preferred just to flick though digitally or read a webpage rather than save links to my computer to access them. Tried to view the resources in January 2022—not uploaded yet. Started the school year and got busy so didn’t get a chance to log back in. Need to have resources available in school holidays before we get swamped with work. Asked my business manager to buy the paper books, don’t think the order went through as you’re not DET [Department of Education and Training] approved supplier. Please make them available to public primary schools in NSW or send them out free of charge to every primary school that has a DSM. Thanks!	The users had to navigate many topics and pages to find specific resources for the children they were supporting. Since they are busy in their roles, and the children’s needs were dynamic, this was a time-consuming process.	A free, anonymous, digital personalised programme was co-created to support usability (see http://program.ecdefenceprograms.com/) (accessed on 10 September 2025). This involves the end-user filling out three questions using a series of boxes to tick: What is their role (parent, educator, support worker/clinician)? What does the child need support with? What do they want to know more about? A list of experiences of military families follows questions 2 and 3. The user can then click ‘create a program’, generating a program of resources with images and links as a web form, or a downloadable PDF (see http://program.ecdefenceprograms.com/) (accessed on 10 September 2025).
I think the resources from this new project are better suited to teachers and support workers than parents. Although some of the resources would be more useful to younger children. My son is 8 and the stories were a bit too young for him and very similar to stories we have read before. … It wasn’t clear what to do with some of the workbooks, but they looked similar to what some child psychologists use for helping kids with their feelings. I guess the kids are meant to draw on the pages, but it didn’t say that when I accessed it. This sort of resource is harder for parents to use, but very useful in a clinical setting. I think these resources are fantastic, just perhaps not for parents—more for clinicians/teachers.	Some of the resources did not provide detailed instructions on how to use them with children. Most of the initial activities and resources were designed for children aged 2–8 years, with the majority targeting children aged 2–6 years.	We provided more detailed instructions for parents on how to engage their children in the personalised storybooks and project books to make them more user-friendly. We have created additional activities and resources for parents, educators, and support workers to engage children up to 12 years old, and co-created further research-based storybooks for children up to 10 years old.

provides a summary of the participant responses, explanations of the issues raised, and the solutions the research team implemented. Arising from the pragmatist methodological aim for research to be useful, this section highlights the ways in which the research was used to improve the resources and thus the user friendliness and utility of the resources.

3.3. Quantitative and Qualitative Findings Combined

The quantitative findings suggested apparent improvements in adults’ confidence in supporting the children by using the resources. They also suggested children’s wellbeing was positively supported. The qualitative findings illustrated these apparent improvements with specific examples of how these resources worked. This combination of results highlights the manner in which a pragmatist approach to research not only improves our knowledge but also provides tangible benefits to the populations targeted by the work.

4. Discussion

This survey study, to our knowledge, is among the first to examine whether military parents, educators, and support workers could benefit from an age- and culturally appropriate suite of free, online psychosocial resources to aid military children’s psychosocial development. The co-creation of the resources has been described elsewhere (e.g., Rogers et al., 2025b), but this research process is significant in the impact, relevance and usability of resources to support affected communities (Vargas et al., 2022), thus supporting the pragmatic approach taken in the methodology.

Children from military families in Group 1 were reported to be more likely to enjoy being with friends and other people and willing to actively seek out activities that made them happy. Those in Group 2 continued to be more likely to demonstrate these behaviours after being part of the intervention. Group 1 participants rated children as being less likely to enjoy challenges, to adapt to new situations, and to share negative emotions. Again, this did not change much for children about whom the Group 2 participants reflected. Even though the numbers from the survey indicated little impact of the intervention on children’s behaviour, a more in-depth exploration of the Group 2 survey indicated that adults working with these children felt much more competent in their roles, and it is possible to assume from this that children will ultimately benefit from more confident and skilled support people.

Previous studies have indicated that very young children with a deployed parent may experience greater levels of insecure attachment compared to military or civilian children without a deployed parent (Tupper et al., 2018), which suggests that resources that strengthen social and emotional wellbeing will be beneficial, thereby extending this research. Adult confidence was also evident in ameliorating separation anxieties associated with relocation and other transitions, and enhancing child–educator or child–Defence School Mentor relationships. Effectively supporting military family life, as above, is the cornerstone of work by service providers such as educators and support workers with the military family (Hall & Moore, 2016; Ormeno et al., 2020). Thus, our study expands upon these previous findings by providing practical resources to support the children.

Group 1 participants indicated a lack of targeted resources available to them (a lack that clearly fed into their lack of confidence working with children from military families). Few had access to children’s storybooks or online platforms that were useful for working with this particular cohort of children. Providing these resources through the intervention was recognised as valuable by Group 2 participants.

Group 2 participants also suggested that the resources were useful for assisting clinicians outside of the military organisation in understanding and supporting children from military families. This is an important finding since a lack of understanding of the military lifestyle and its unique culture can act as a barrier to service delivery (Hill et al., 2023).

The final theme asked an open-ended question regarding how the resources could be improved. A number of respondents expressed some difficulty with the usability and navigation of the platform on which the resources were available, as it was password-protected during the piloting phase. Some parents expressed that the resources were more appropriate for educators and support workers, as they required more scaffolding for parents who are not necessarily trained in pedagogical or children’s therapy. These issues have been addressed as previously noted in Table 6. Self-help tools tailored to the military setting are effective for Australian veterans (Lloyd et al., 2017), but we found no studies that have examined the usability, accessibility and reach of a website targeting military families.

As reported elsewhere (Rogers et al., 2025a), the springboard for this study was the dearth of age- and culturally appropriate, evidence-based resources available for young children, their parents, educators, and other support personnel, particularly in Australia. This has also been noted by international military family researchers (DeVoe et al., 2016). One exemplar to address this problem is the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, which is designed to provide professionals with tools to respond to the needs of military children, young people, and families. In effect, it provides technical assistance to professionals who support service members, veterans, and their families, as well as evaluating programmes and practices. The findings of our study complement this aim and point to a need for strong and ongoing partnerships between researchers, service providers and those with lived and living experience to address the needs of these families. This approach has been further evidenced in our work to adapt these materials for particular cohorts who want to use them, such as in Canada and the United Kingdom, where research partners are culturally and linguistically adapting the resources for their families (see https://content.une.edu.au/2022/ebooks/index.html, accessed on 10 September 2025).

Pragmatic research not only focuses on the actual benefits to the targeted populations of the work undertaken, but also on the contribution to theory. As discussed in more detail in our previous publications (Rogers et al., 2023, 2025b), this study used a co-creation approach to involve the affected community and partners in all elements of the study, from designing the intervention itself to designing the survey questions (both qualitative and quantitative). We followed the co-creation framework provided by Vargas et al. (2022) and demonstrated that involvement of various affected community and partner groups, despite the intricacies and challenges involved, results in outcomes that are responsive to community need and, as such, valued by community members. Such a “use-inspired research” (England et al., 2024, p. 2) approach is recommended as an important element in supporting the social responsibility expectations placed on research institutions (Alsrehan, 2025).

4.1. Limitations

This pilot study had several limitations. The small number of participants, which was partly due to COVID-19 lockdowns that impacted families and geographical locations within Australia differently (Price et al., 2023; Westrupp et al., 2021), limited the statistical power of the findings and reduced opportunities for meaningful comparisons between groups. Matching of participants from Group 1 to Group 2 was not possible due to the complexities of COVID-19 impacts on communities and imposed ethical limitations. Engagement with the resources likely varied, given that participants were all influenced by factors such as their own individual time constraints, competing priorities, and the unique needs and interests of each child and their military family context. These factors have affected both the use of the resources and the outcomes reported. Additionally, all participants identified as females (not an uncommon situation in the early childhood and support worker workforce, and given the prevalence of males in the military), and only a small number of support workers were included, which limits the diversity of perspectives. The study’s reliance on self-reported measures, without a control group or randomisation, further constrains the ability to draw causal conclusions. There is limited representation of social workers and only female participants, which takes away the male (father) perspective. There are inconsistent numbers across questions that impede interpretations of the findings. Finally, although participants were located across most Australian states and territories, the sample may not fully represent the broader diversity of military families, particularly those living in regional, rural, or remote areas.

4.2. Need for Further Research

Further research is required to build on these preliminary findings. More comprehensive evaluations using mixed-methods designs are recommended, incorporating interviews to provide richer and more nuanced insights (Nathan et al., 2019) into how the resources are used and experienced. Studies with larger and more diverse participant groups are particularly needed in regional, rural, and remote areas, where limited access to services makes such research especially valuable for informing practice and policy. In addition, longitudinal research could explore the sustained impact of the resources on children’s social and emotional wellbeing, as well as the ongoing capacity of parents, educators, and support workers to support young children from military families. Further research could explore the extent to which adult improved confidence in supporting children from these families translates to improvements in children’s wellbeing, which is yet to be determined. Additionally, paired statistical tests could be used between the pre- and post-groups.

5. Conclusions

It is clear that, prior to the development of the psychosocial resources, there was little available information and resources available for family members and those professionals working with them to support their children. The intervention, therefore, is potentially beneficial for some families who might find the resources useful. The development of the resources is discussed in more detail in (Rogers et al., 2025a) and involved the input from a range of affected communities and partners in a co-creation process that is not the subject of this current paper. However, it is relevant to report the range of suggestions about perceived improvements made by Group 2 participants, which have been incorporated into the now publicly available material (ecdefenceprograms.com). This is particularly important given the nature of the research, which, rather than addressing a gold standard evaluation approach (as defined by Hariton & Locascio, 2018), focuses on the participatory nature of the study and the value placed on honouring participants’ voices. This different approach to evaluating resources has resulted in materials that have been co-created by end-users and thus reflect the reality of their lives and experiences, making them user-friendly and accessible. Their value is thus addressed by the extent to which they are used by those they were designed to support. The ultimate aim of the project as a whole was to create materials that were useful and relevant for the targeted cohort, empowering parents and those working with the children of military families to provide timely and relevant support that enhances children’s psychosocial wellbeing. This paper addresses a small part of the overall process, that of a limited evaluation of the pilot materials; however, the data largely demonstrates that the aims of the study were addressed. That is, there are many potential benefits of targeted programmes, professional development, and accessible resources for parents, educators, and support workers who assist children from military families. The resources were well received, and participants valued the information and ideas presented in them. The extent to which adult improved confidence in supporting children from these families actually results in improved children’s wellbeing is yet to be determined; research is ongoing and much needed.