Table 2 Summary of group experiential... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Summary of group experiential themes and subthemes

Group experiential themes	Subthemes	Quotes
1. The formation of trailing spouses' friendships	1. Escape from struggle and boredom MEET	One of my neighbors is my mom's age, so she was a few years older than me, but … I just wanted to meet someone and not struggle, because otherwise, it was so boring. (Emma, T1)

	2. Sharing struggling moments, sharing experience SHARE/TALK	About the time we started hanging out with the Indian expatriates, I also started making friends … so it ended up being a fun … bunch. (Kiara, T1)

	3. Friends feeling like home, feeling like family QUASI FAMILY	But once you go to church, they all serve … Family gathering. Celebrate Christmas, birthdays together … So, it's just like our family. (Sandra, T1)

2. Being aware of the limits of resources	1. Awareness of time To invest or not to invest in being together	I won't do this now because we are leaving then anyway and like not worth making any new friends because we are leaving anyway. (Maria, T1)

	2. Awareness of personal wellbeing Invest in personal well-being, where friendship is a by-product	My closest friend here, who is Malaysian, I met her through sports, and now we just meet outside. (Emma, T1)

	3. Awareness of meaningful connections What if there is not enough time No choice in time PRECIOUS TIME	I've been messaging more. So I've been more aware of the … the preciousness of time. So I've been more engaging with my Mom. (Ben, T3)

3. Back to the roots - from routine connection to adapted connection	1. Maintaining family connections, care and support; creating memories ROOTING	All I did was go out with them, meet these cousin's sisters … I pretty much relaxed for three days. He [husband] took the boys to his cousin's place and they had a blast as well. (Fatima, T1)

	2. Missing Re-establishment RE-ROOTING When well-known routines have obstacles	Like just having people in your home, sitting down sharing a meal, is a much easier way to kind of re-establish yourself and re-establish your life back here than doing it over you know a computer, or behind a mask or whatever we had to do … The pandemic has like permeated everything in our lives and just made it a little bit more complicated (Violet, T3)

	3. Social connections through kids LINK-ROOTING Kids as facilitators in connections	But it was when [daughter] was born, my life has changed … I started going to playgroups, I met other moms of the same age, so they had the same problem as me … I was starting a proper life, with people, social life. (Emma, T1)

Group experiential themes	Subthemes	Quotes
1. The formation of trailing spouses' friendships	1. Escape from struggle and boredom MEET	One of my neighbors is my mom's age, so she was a few years older than me, but … I just wanted to meet someone and not struggle, because otherwise, it was so boring. (Emma, T1)

	2. Sharing struggling moments, sharing experience SHARE/TALK	About the time we started hanging out with the Indian expatriates, I also started making friends … so it ended up being a fun … bunch. (Kiara, T1)

	3. Friends feeling like home, feeling like family QUASI FAMILY	But once you go to church, they all serve … Family gathering. Celebrate Christmas, birthdays together … So, it's just like our family. (Sandra, T1)

2. Being aware of the limits of resources	1. Awareness of time To invest or not to invest in being together	I won't do this now because we are leaving then anyway and like not worth making any new friends because we are leaving anyway. (Maria, T1)

	2. Awareness of personal wellbeing Invest in personal well-being, where friendship is a by-product	My closest friend here, who is Malaysian, I met her through sports, and now we just meet outside. (Emma, T1)

	3. Awareness of meaningful connections What if there is not enough time No choice in time PRECIOUS TIME	I've been messaging more. So I've been more aware of the … the preciousness of time. So I've been more engaging with my Mom. (Ben, T3)

3. Back to the roots - from routine connection to adapted connection	1. Maintaining family connections, care and support; creating memories ROOTING	All I did was go out with them, meet these cousin's sisters … I pretty much relaxed for three days. He [husband] took the boys to his cousin's place and they had a blast as well. (Fatima, T1)

	2. Missing Re-establishment RE-ROOTING When well-known routines have obstacles	Like just having people in your home, sitting down sharing a meal, is a much easier way to kind of re-establish yourself and re-establish your life back here than doing it over you know a computer, or behind a mask or whatever we had to do … The pandemic has like permeated everything in our lives and just made it a little bit more complicated (Violet, T3)

	3. Social connections through kids LINK-ROOTING Kids as facilitators in connections	But it was when [daughter] was born, my life has changed … I started going to playgroups, I met other moms of the same age, so they had the same problem as me … I was starting a proper life, with people, social life. (Emma, T1)