The impact of parental deployment to war on children: The crucial role of parenting

It is estimated that approximately 2 million children have been affected by military deployment, yet much of what is known about the adjustment of children experiencing a parent's combat deployment has emerged only within the past 5–10 years. The extant literature on associations of parental deployment and children's adjustment is briefly reviewed by child's developmental stage. Applying a family stress model to the literature, we propose that the impact of parental deployment and reintegration on children's adjustment is largely mediated by parenting practices. Extensive developmental literature has demonstrated the importance of parenting for children's resilience in adverse contexts more generally, but not specifically in deployment contexts. We review the sparse literature on parenting in deployed families as well as emerging data on empirically supported parenting interventions for military families. An agenda for future research in this area is proffered.