Publication year
2011
Citation Title
Psychosocial screening in children with wartime-deployed parents.
Journal Name
Military Medicine
Journal Volume
176
Issue Number
4
Page Numbers
402-407
DOI
10.7205/milmed-d-10-00202
Summary
Self-report data from parent and youth were utilized to investigate the effects of parental military deployment on adolescents' psychosocial difficulties (internalizing symptoms like depression and anxiety and externalizing symptoms like school and attention problems). Parents and youth reported more psychosocial issues when a parent Service members was currently deployed.
Key Findings
Parents of an adolescent with a deployed parent reported more child psychosocial difficulties than did parents of an adolescent without a currently deployed parent. There were no differences based on gender or age.
Youth with a deployed parent reported significantly more psychosocial difficulties than did youth without a deployed parent, with the exception of attention problems. There was no difference between groups with respect to attention problems and no differences based on gender.
Only one difference was found betwen parent and youth reports; parents indicated less school problems for their adolescents than the youth did for themselves.
Implications for Program Leaders
Identify youth who might be at-risk during parental deployment and in need of additional supports or services
Provide education to military youth about the impact of parental deployment and healthy coping strategies, focusing on evidence-based strategies that build youth coping skills
Publicize information regarding normative versus problematic responses of youth to a parents deployment and strategies to address deployment-related distress
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend professional development to service providers regarding how parental deployment affects children
Encourage primary care providers to screen military youth for possible pyschosocial difficulties
Continue to support programs that provide resources for military families and youth throughout the deployment cycle
Methods
Participants were approached during routine fall sports/school physical examinations at a large, northwest U.S. military treatment facility in 2007.
Children were divided into two matched groups: those with a currently deployed parent and those without a currently deployed parent.
This study focused on military families with parents serving in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard.
Participants
Military parents (n = 106) and their adolescents (n = 72; aged 11-16 years) participated.
Children ranged in age from 11 to 16 years.
No other demographic information (i.e., gender and race/ethnicity) were provided.
Limitations
A small sample size may limit the generalizability to the larger population.
Without longitudinal data, there is no clear evidence that military deployment caused deficits in psychosocial functioning.
The use of self-report data means that results may be biased.
Avenues for Future Research
Recruit youth from a more general population of military youth, not just those receiving sports physicals
Conduct a longitudinal study with military families to more accurately assess the effects of deployment over time
Conducted a similar study with Reserve and National Guard unit families
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Children of U.S. military families are exposed to unique challenges and stressors directly related to their parents' wartime deployments, potentially placing them at higher risk for psychosocial disruption. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of parental wartime military deployment on psychosocial symptoms as measured by parent and youth self-report on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist. During annual physicals at a large military pediatric clinic, parents (216) and youth (198) were surveyed about emotional and behavioral difficulties and the current status of parental deployment. Parents reported more child psychosocial symptoms, and youth self reported more psychosocial symptoms if there was a currently deployed parent. Youth self-reports may be another way to identify psychosocial symptoms in at-risk military youth. These findings accentuate the importance of training providers who care for military youth to recognize and respond to their unique needs during parental deployment.
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