Adolescence (12-18 years)

Background: Adolescent children of U.S. military veterans may be at increased risk for engaging in substance use; however, this has yet to be examined using nationally representative data.

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUHs) data were used to examine the association between Veteran father and non-Veteran father's parental involvement, parent-child communication, and parental beliefs about child substance use on adolescent substance use.

Military youth have unique challenges, particularly when a parent is deployed. Camp participation has been linked to multiple positive outcomes, thus camps have become popular as a setting for addressing these youth’s unique needs.

Adolescent dependents of Service members experience unique challenges related to military life; deployment support camps may help them cope with some of these challenges.

Using a pattern-based approach, worry was explored in relation to military youths’ developmental and contextual characteristics, and pivotal outcomes (depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, well-being, coping styles, academic performance and deployment adjustment).

Different aspects of military life, including parental deployment, may lead youth to experience higher levels of worry. Three distinct patterns or profiles of worrying were identified in a sample of military youth.