Influences of Cumulative Risk and Protective Factors on the Adjustment of Adolescents in Military Families

The well-being of adolescents in families with at least one Active Duty military parent was examined in light of risk factors (both general and specific to military families) as well as protective factors. Experience of cumulative risk factors was a predictor of increased depression, decreased academic performance, and decreased persistence. Social support, from within the family and from outside the family, minimized relationships between cumulative risk factors and adolescents’ outcomes.