A meta-analytic review of internalizing, externalizing, and academic adjustment among children of deployed military service members.

Abstract

Parental deployment during military conflicts has the potential to impact child adjustment. As increased numbers of military Service members have children, it is critical to understand the association between military deployment and child adjustment. In order to resolve inconsistencies in the existing literature, we performed a meta-analytic review of 16 studies that report associations of military deployment with internalizing, externalizing, and academic adjustment among children. Results indicate a small association between deployment and poorer adjustment. This association varied across several features of the studies. Age moderation was such that the associations are strongest in middle childhood and weakest during adolescence. The method that adjustment was assessed also moderated this association, such that maladjustment was evident primarily with parents' reports. Study design also moderated associations, such that comparisons to civilian controls indicated associations with maladjustment, whereas comparisons to nondeployed military and prepost comparisons did not. These findings summarize the existing quantitative literature to indicate that parental deployment has a negligible association with child maladjustment and provide a foundation for future research.

Communication, Coping, and Connections: Campers’ and Parents’ Perspectives of Self-Efficacy and Benefits of Participation in Deployment Support Camps

“…There may be increased behavior problems (Barker & Berry, 2009), problems at school (Pfefferbaum, Houston, Sherman, & Melson, 2011;Richardson et al, 2011), and increased family conflict (Knobloch et al, 2015). However, a meta-analysis of 16 studies of children of deployed service members showed small effect sizes and mixed results (Card et al, 2011). The authors of this meta-analysis caution that these results do not mean that children are unaffected by deployment.…”

“…The effects may be different for reserve component families because they may have less access to resources and social support compared with active duty families located on or near military installations (Castenada et al, 2008;Lara-Cinisomo et al, 2013;Park, 2011). Other factors include individual and contextual factors such as personal characteristics, coping style, social support, parent and family functioning, and the availability of community supports (Card et al, 2011). The issues faced by military youth co-occur with normative developmental changes (Millburn & Lightfoot, 2013).…”

Boundary Ambiguity and Ambivalence in Military Family Reintegration

“…Internalizing or externalizing disorders may appear in these youth, as well as disruptions in family or peer relationships and academic maladjustment (Card et al, 2011;Chandra, L. Martin, et al, 2010). Many of these systemic responses by spouses and children can be traced to the experience of boundary ambiguity in this population (Faber et al, 2008;Huebner, Mancini, Wilcox, Grass, & Grass, 2007), as family members re-organize their perceptions of who is functionally in or out of the family system and in what particular ways.…”

“…While this may be protective during deployment, it can be destructive to family relationships if maintained once the service member is home. Also, during deployment, the at-home caregiver may enlist one of his or her children as a confidant (Card et al, 2011), which could have a temporary effect of strengthening that relationship. However, depending on the content, intensity, and duration of the confidant relationship, there could be detrimental consequences during reintegration should one or the other family members not want to give up that role.…”

“…Another significant stressor is separation, which is an ever present threat to the family system that may occur through routine or unexpected trainings and especially overseas deployments (S. Riggs & D. Riggs, 2011). Deployments are associated with a degree of adjustment problems in children (Card et al, 2011) and emotional difficulties and increased stress for spouses (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009). Now that the larger context of the military family has been explored, the following sections will discuss more detailed conceptual and theoretical aspects of the study related to the deployment cycle and the military context, boundary ambiguity, and ambivalence.…”