Publication year
1996
Citation Title
Children's response to parental separation during Operation Desert Storm.
Journal Name
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Journal Volume
35
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
433-441
DOI
10.1097/00004583-199604000-00009
Summary
In this study, the authors compared children and families with and without a deployed Service member-parent prior to and during Operation Desert Storm in an effort to determine the effects of Operation Desert Storm on military children and their parents. Three hundred and eighty-three children and the remaining caretaking parent completed self- and parent-report instruments concerning child and family functioning (child behavior, depression and anxiety and parent depression, adjustment and coping) and life stressors.
Key Findings
Children of deployed personnel had elevated symptoms of depression as did their parents (as measured by self-report) when compared to non-deployed parents and their children. These differences maintained when controlling for these measures pre-deployment and for intervening variables like rank or child age.
Families and children of deployed personnel experienced more life stressors than non-deployed parents and their children.
Boys and younger children seem to be more vulnerable to the effects of deployment.
Deployment rarely caused pathological levels of symptoms in otherwise healthy children.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups (both formal and informal) for military spouses may prove beneficial to families with deployed Service members and should continue to be supported and encouraged
Offer workshops where children receive an education component regarding deployment to assist children in mediating the potential effects of parental deployment
Provide education on building support and resiliency to particularly vulnerable groups (boys and younger children)
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage screenings in school or health-care settings for younger children to identify those most vulnerable to depressive symptoms during deployment
Continue to support programs that offer services to military familie during deployment
Encourage collaboration between DoD and community-based programs that offer support services to military children coping with mental health issues throughout the deployment cycle
Methods
The authors used cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data completed by mothers and their children.
Measures collected from children included the Child Behavior Checklist, the Children’s Depression Inventory, and the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale. Measures collected from Parents included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, a short version of the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, the Life Events Record, the Psychological Coping Resources scale, and the Social Assets Scale.
This study focused on mothers and children from military families (branch and component not specified).
Participants
This sample included 383 children and their caretakers.
The majority of the participants were White (53%), 31% Black, 9% Latino, and 7% from other ethnic backgrounds.
Mothers were on average 34 years of age (range not specified); children were between the ages of four and 17 years (the average age was not specified), and 55% of the children were male (45% were female).
Limitations
Those who participated may differ from non-participants in a way that is not measured, but affected the outcome variables. For instance, those that participated may have been functioning better than those who did not participate.
Parents and children may be trying to respond in the “best” way.
Military branch and service component were not specified and limits what can be understood regarding the results.
Avenues for Future Research
Investigate the possible long-term effects into adulthood for children raised during Desert Storm operations
Examine possible differences by branch and/or component
Continue to explore the effects of parental wartime deployment on children based on age and gender of the child
Focus
Multiple Branches
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Objective: Commonly held attitudes concerning the effects of parental wartime deployment on children have usually been guided by stereotype, rather than scientific data. To determine the effects of Operation Desert Storm on military children and their parents, the authors compared children and families with and without a deployed soldier-parent prior to and during Operation Desert Storm. Method: Three hundred eighty-three children and the remaining caretaking parent completed self- and parent-report instruments concerning child and family functioning and life stressors. Children of deployed and nondeployed personnel were compared cross-sectionally, as well as longitudinally, using data collected prior to any knowledge of Operation Desert Storm. Results: Children of deployed personnel experienced elevated self-reported symptom levels of depression, as did their parents. Likewise, families of deployed personnel reported significantly more intervening stressors, compared with children and families of nondeployed personnel. However, deployment per se rarely provoked pathological levels of symptoms in otherwise healthy children. Conclusions: Generally, the factors shaping differential outcomes among children of deployed personnel do not differ from the variables affecting outcomes of children of nondeployed parents. However, boys and younger children appear to be especially vulnerable to deployment effects, and increased monitoring of these children is warranted. Adequate treatment of children requires treatment of the effects of the deployment on other family members. For children showing more persistent or pervasive psychopathology, factors other than simple deployment should be considered.
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