Middle Childhood (5-12 years)

The potential for war is a pervasive threat to the security and family structure of children in military families.

Survey, assessment, and interview data were used to examine Active Duty, Reserve, and civilian children’s perceptions of war, levels of anxiety, coping strategies, and emotional problems.

Objective: Children are at risk for adverse outcomes during parental military deployments. We aim to determine the impact of parental deployment and combat injury on young children’s postdeployment mental health, injuries, and maltreatment.

Young children of Active Duty military parents participated in a study assessing the impact of parental deployment and combat injury on children’s mental health, injuries, and maltreatment.

One of the constants of the military lifestyle is geographic mobility, or permanent change of station (PCS). The PCS has a particularly profound effect on military children with disabilities and their families.

Focus groups and interviews were conducted with military families who have dependents with disabilities enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) as well as the providers serving them.

There are close to two million children who have parents serving in the United States military. Youth in military families face unique challenges, such as stress about family deployment.

Survey data from military youth were utilized to examine how the presence of a companion animal in the home impacted resilient functioning strategies and coping. Attachment to an animal was associated with positive youth development and adaptive coping for youth with a deployed family member.

Over the past decade, many children have experienced a parental deployment, increasing their risk for emotional and behavioral problems.

Online survey data were used to examine individual and child well-being, recognition of child problems, and help-seeking behaviors among military parents. Most military families were aware of their child’s problems and sought help.