Publication year
2011
Citation Title
Children of National Guard troops deployed in the Global War on Terrorism.
Journal Name
Journal of Loss & Trauma
Journal Volume
16
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
291-305
DOI
10.1080/15325024.2010.519293
Summary
Children of deployed Service members may experience a variety of difficulties, including emotional and behavioral concerns. The self-reported and parent-reported frequencies of emotional and behavioral difficulties experienced by children during parent deployment were compared across pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment. Children of deployed service members experienced more emotional and behavioral problems overall during deployment and when they had more family and safety worries
Key Findings
Overall, children's emotional and behavioral difficulties were worse during parent deployment than post-deployment.
Children who were more worried about their family's future, the deployed parent's safety and return, and how safe the world was in general, reported greater emotional difficulties, internalizing problems, school problems, and difficulties with personal adjustment before and during deployment.
Parents' report of externalizing and behavior problems was associated with child worry about the family's future pre-deployment, with child worry about the non-deployed parent during deployment, and with child worry about both parents post-deployment.
Children who had experienced a previous parental deployment had lower personal adjustment post-deployment and had more behavior problems across deployment phases than those whose parents were deployed for the first time.
Implications for Program Leaders
Educate children and partners of deployed Service members about stressors of deployment and useful coping skills
Host social gatherings for families of deployed Service members to connect with one another
Provide support groups for children who have already experienced a parental deployment and are facing multiple parent deployments
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programming for military families at all stages of deployment
Encourage professional development for providers working with military children about the stressors and potential emotional and behavioral problems children may exhibit during parent deployment
Recommend the development of parenting classes for Service members and their partners, offering skills in how to support their children across the deployment cycle
Methods
Children, ages 6-18 years, and non-deployed spouses of National Guard Service members who were deployed in OIF were recruited via flyers at National Guard facilities and events.
Parents and children completed surveys or interviews pre-deployment, during deployment, and post-deployment regarding chilren's behavior, emotions, and worries related to deployment.
Frequencies of child difficulties were calculated, and levels of difficulties were compared between deployment phases.
Participants
Participants included 13 non-deployed wives and 18 children (61% male) of deployed National Guard personnel.
Spouses were ages 24-53 years and identified as White (77%), Black (15%), and Native American (8%).
Children were ages 6-17 years and were 61% White, 28% Black, 11% Native American.
This was the first deployment for 54% of the spouses, second for 38%, and third deployment for 8%.
Limitations
The small, convenience sample from only National Guard families limits generalizability to other military families.
Families who chose to participate may have been experiencing more or less child difficulties and could have differed from families who did not participate.
The timing of assessments may have impacted results given that pre- and post-deployment assessments were both very close to the deployment phase.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct a long-term follow-up of families post-deployment to understand the effects of deployment on military children across time
Explore additional factors potentially related to child emotional and behavioral difficulties during deployment (e.g., non-deployed parent emotional problems, changes in schedule and household responsibilities)
Investigate whether progams that educate military children about common responses and coping strategies during deployment or programs that provide social support impact levels of emotional or behavioral difficulties among military children during deployment
Focus
National Guard
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
This study examined deployment effects in children and spouses of National Guard troops using a longitudinal design to assess 18 children (ages 6 to 17 years) and 13 non-deployed spouses before, during, and after deployment. Both self- and parent reports revealed that children of deployed service personnel experienced emotional and behavioral symptoms during the deployment of their fathers relative to pre- and post-deployment. The children's worry and uncertainty, along with aspects of family interactions, may give rise to ambiguous loss associated with deployment in military families.
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