Child Mental Health Symptoms Following Parental Deployment: The Impact of Parental Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Marital Distress, and General Aggression

Marital distress, aggression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are commonly linked in research. However, less often is the consideration of the impact on children, and specifically, their increased mental health symptoms. This study examined child mental health symptoms after a parent returns from deployment and suggests that general parental aggression (e.g., threatening, fighting, damaging property) is a key mechanism in children's mental health.