Publication year
2007
Citation Title
Child maltreatment in enlisted soldiers' families during combat-related deployments.
Journal Name
Journal of the American Medical Association
Journal Volume
298
Issue Number
5
Page Numbers
528-535
DOI
10.1001/jama.298.5.528
Summary
It is important to understand the relationship between deployment and child maltreatment in order to provide the best programs for prevention and intervention. Rates of child maltreatment incidents perpetrated by Active Duty Soldiers or their spouses were compared during deployment and when Soldiers were not deployed. Rates of maltreatment were significantly higher among these families during deployment, particularly neglect and more severe maltreatment incidents.
Key Findings
Of families with substantiated maltreatment cases, rates of child maltreatment were 42% higher during deployment than non-deployment; moderate and severe maltreatment was higher during deployment, and rates of neglect were almost twice as great during deploymet, while physical and emotional abuse rates were lower.
Among civilian mothers, the rate of maltreatment during deployment was three times greater overall, the rate of child neglect was almost four times greater, and the rate of physical abuse was nearly twice as great than during non-deployment.
Among those parents who committed maltreatment, rates during deployment were higher among White than Black or Latino parents.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups for civilian wives of deployed Soldiers given they may have increased vulnerability of engaging in child maltreatment during deployment
Educate spouses of deployed Soldiers about effective parenting (e.g., age-appropriate expectations, effective discipline) and child maltreatment risks
Provide drop-in childcare during deployment for families with children at the highest risk for child maltreatment (i.e., ages 2-12 years) and for overwhelmed parents
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to provide support for military parents through programs and education to prevent child maltreatment
Encourage education for providers working with military families regarding child maltreatment and its risk and resilience factors
Recommend collaboration between the Department of Defense and community mental health services to help parents who have perpetrated family violence receive treatment
Methods
Data from the Army Central Registry for Army personnel information and substantiated child maltreatment incidents between 2001-2004 were utilized.
Databases included information regarding maltreatment incident type and severity, offender and child characteristics, and military family demographic data.
Ratios of maltreatment incidents to days at risk were used to compare rates of substantiated child maltreatment incidents during deployment and non-deployment, as well as to compare offender and victim characteristics and incident characteristics.
Participants
Data was included for parents (n = 1858) who had perpetrated child maltreatment in families (n = 1771) of Active Duty enlisted Soldiers who had at least one combat-related deployment; these incidents affected 2968 children across 3334 incidents.
Children were ages 0-18 years old (m=6 years), and were 50% female; parents were enlisted Soldiers or their spouses, had a mean age of 29 years, and were primarily White (54%).
Most offenders committed child maltreatment on one day during the study (90%).
Limitations
Parent stress was not assessed, so conclusions about whether deployment-related stress is associated with increased child maltreatment cannot be drawn.
Findings may not be generalizable to officers or to other branches of the military since only enlisted Army soldiers were included.
Not all maltreatment incidents are likely to be reported or substantiated, and many cases of child maltreatment may be missing from these analyses.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine the effects of military parents' substance use on rates of child maltreatment
Explore military family characteristics that may be resilience factors (e.g., social support, available resources, parental education or employment) for child maltreatment
Conduct studies that compare different levels and combinations of parenting support (e.g., education, childcare, stress management) to understand how programs can best prevent parent perpetration of child maltreatment
Focus
Army
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Parental stress is believed to play a critical role in child maltreatment, and deployment is often stressful for military families. Objective: To examine the association between combat-related deployment and rates of child maltreatment in families of enlisted soldiers in the US Army who had 1 or more substantiated reports of child maltreatment. Design and Setting: Descriptive case series of substantiated incidents of parental child maltreatment in 1771 families of enlisted US Army soldiers who experienced at least 1 combat deployment between September 2001 and December 2004. Main Outcome Measures: Conditional Poisson regression models were used to estimate rate ratios (RRs) that compare rates of substantiated child maltreatment incidents during periods of deployment and nondeployment. Results: A total of 1858 parents in 1771 different families maltreated their children. In these families, the overall rate of child maltreatment was higher during the times when the soldier-parents were deployed compared with the times when they were not deployed (942 incidents and 713 626 days at risk during deployments vs 2392 incidents and 2.6 million days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 1.42 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.31-1.54]). During deployment, the rates of moderate or severe maltreatment also were elevated (638 incidents and 447 647 days at risk during deployments vs 1421 incidents and 1.6 million days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 1.61 [95% CI, 1.45-1.77]). The rates of child neglect were nearly twice as great during deployment (761 incidents and 470 657 days at risk during deployments vs 1407 incidents and 1.6 million days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.77-2.14]); however, the rate of physical abuse was less during deployments (97 incidents and 80 033 days at risk during deployments vs 451 incidents and 318 326 days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.58-0.93]). Among female civilian spouses, the rate of maltreatment during deployment was more than 3 times greater (783 incidents and 382 480 days at risk during deployments vs 832 incidents and 1.2 million days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 3.33 [95% CI, 2.98-3.67]), the rate of child neglect was almost 4 times greater (666 incidents and 303 555 days at risk during deployments vs 605 incidents and 967 362 days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 3.88 [95% CI, 3.43-4.34]), and the rate of physical abuse was nearly twice as great (73 incidents and 18 316 days at risk during deployments vs 141 incidents and 61 105 days at risk during nondeployment; RR, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.33-2.49]). Conclusions: Among families of enlisted soldiers in the US Army with substantiated reports of child maltreatment, rates of maltreatment are greater when the soldiers are on combat-related deployments. Enhanced support services may be needed for military families during periods of increased stress.
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