Date
6-16-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Lisa DeForest
Keywords
adult children of veterans, attachment relationships, military relocations, resiliency.
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Fife, Amanda M., "The Lived Experiences of Young Adult Children of Veterans Attachment in Responses to Unique Lifestyle Challenges" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7111.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7111
Abstract
The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe young adult children of veterans’ experiences with frequent relocations. Military-connected youth experience unique stressors that their civilian peers do not encounter and may experience frequent disruptions in attachment relationships. The theories guiding this study are John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth’s attachment theory, Norman Garmezy’s resiliency theory, and Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional theory of stress and coping. These theories provide the structural framework for understanding the meaning of attachment, factors that promote resiliency, and structures for coping with stress. Individual interviews were conducted with each of the 10 selected participants that meet the outlined criteria. Data collected from the interviews will be transcribed and analyzed to identify and group into common themes.
