Early Childhood (under 5 years)

129 military children aged 5 or under who were seen in a Hawaiian military psychiatric clinic participated in a study assessing the demographic profiles of its clients. Approximately 40% of the children had some developmental disorder.

Some Navy families are subject to unusual stress in that the active duty parent may be deployed for several months at a time.

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.

This study, like numerous others, found parental absence to be associated with problematic behavior on behalf of children.