The Effect of Father Absence on the Psychiatric Hospitalization of Navy Children

118 Navy and 103 civilian children and adolescents who were psychiatrically hospitalized over a three-year period participated in a study to examine deployment as a risk factor for hospitalization. 60% of Navy youth who were hospitalized had a Navy parent whose job required long-term deployment. Of the Navy youth who were admitted, 58% were hospitalized while their father or stepfather was at sea.