Publication year
2014
Citation Title
Well-being and suicidal ideation of secondary school students from military families.
Journal Name
Journal of Adolescent Health
Journal Volume
54
Issue Number
6
Page Numbers
672-677
DOI
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.09.006
Summary
Survey data were utilized to examine the influence of military connectedness and parental deployment on adolescent mental health (i.e., feeling sad or hopeless, suicidal ideation, well-being, and depressive symptoms). Results indicate that military connected youth reported more negative mental health symptoms, particularily among adolescence with parents who had deployed.
Key Findings
Thirty-four percent of adolescents with a military parent and 35% with a military sibling reported that in the past year, they felt sad or hopeless for more than two weeks.
Twenty-five percent of adolescents with a military parent and 26% with a military sibling reported that they seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year.
Compared to their non-military-connected peers, military-connected adolescents who experienced one or more familial deployments were more likely to report symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation.
Compared to their non-military-connected peers, military-connected adolescents reported poorer well-being.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer workshops to military parents regarding mental health issues common among adolescents in military-connected families and those experiencing deployment
Collaborate with community-based mental health centers to increase access to services for military connected youth
Provide evidence-based intervention training to service providers that have been shown to reduce the long-term consequences of deployment-related stressors
Implications for Policy Makers
Support ongoing assessment and service provision to military-connected youth experiencing distress
Encourage the development of programs that promote resilience in Service members and their families
Continue to support family readiness programs pre-deployment
Methods
Researchers used data from the 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS), a statewide survey of public school students (response rate was 87%).
This study focused on military-connected adolescents.
Military branch, component, and rank were not specified.
Participants
Fourteen thousand two hundred ninety-nine adolescents in 7th, 9th, and 11th grade participated.
A total of 12,385 were not military-connected, 1,305 were military-connected by parent, and 609 were military-connected by a sibling.
The majority of youth were female (52%) and 50% were Latino.
Limitations
Outcome variables were measured with a single item, which may bias results.
This study focused on military-connected youth living in one region of the country; therefore, findings may not generalize to military-connected youth living in other parts of the United States.
Data were cross-sectional; hence, causation cannot be inferred.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine adolescent mental health at multiple points during the deployment and reintegration process
Test outcomes associated with the deployment of more than one military-connected family member (e.g., parent and sibling)
Explore the influence of deployment on youth by deployment length, location, or type (e.g., combat mission, peacekeeping, military installation training)
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Background: The mental health of children is a primary public health concern; adolescents of military personnel may be at increased risk of experiencing poorer well-being overall and depressive symptoms specifically. These adolescents experience individual and intrafamilial stressors of parental deployment and reintegration, which are directly and indirectly associated with internalizing behaviors. Purpose: The present study sought to better understand the influence of parental military connectedness and parental deployment on adolescent mental health. Methods: Data from the 2011 California Healthy Kids Survey examined feeling sad or hopeless, suicidal ideation, well-being, and depressive symptoms by military connectedness in a subsample (n = 14,299) of seventh-, ninth-, and 11th-grade California adolescents. Cross-classification tables and multiple logistic regression analyses were used. Results: More than 13% of the sample had a parent or sibling in the military. Those with military connections were more likely to report depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Controlling for grade, gender, and race/ethnicity, reporting any familial deployment compared with no deployments was associated with increasing odds of experiencing sadness or hopelessness, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Conclusions: Findings emphasize the increased risk of mental health issues among youth with parents (and siblings) in the military. Although deployment-related mental health stressors are less likely during peace, during times of war there is a need for increased screening in primary care and school settings. Systematic referral systems and collaboration with community-based mental health centers will bolster screening and services.
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