Effect of Parents' Wartime Deployment on the Behavior of Young Children in Military Families

Chartrand, Molinda M.; Frank, Deborah A.; White, Laura F.; Shope, Timothy R.

doi:10.1001/archpedi.162.11.1009

Cited by 232 publications

(154 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…School staff in military-connected schools also reported that deployments may be associated with increased child anxiety (Chandra et al 2010b). Among young children, the association between parent deployment and child behavior was different in different age groups, per caregiver reports with more internalizing behavior being exhibited in children 3 years and older (Chartrand et al 2008). These reports of increased child distress during deployment were confirmed by the evaluations of medical claims data and school data.…”

Section: Current Eramentioning

confidence: 74%

Long-Term Trajectories and Service Needs for Military Families

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Palinkas

2013

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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The deployment of US military personnel to recent conflicts has been a significant stressor for their families; yet, we know relatively little about the long-term family effects of these deployments. Using data from prior military service eras, we review our current understanding of the long-term functioning and needs of military families. These data suggest that overseas deployment, exposure to combat, experiencing or participating in violence during war deployment, service member injury or disability, and combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) all have profound impacts on the functioning of military families. We offer several recommendations to address these impacts such as the provision of family-centered, trauma-informed resources to families of veterans with PTSD and veterans who experienced high levels of combat and war violence. Recent efforts to address the needs of caregivers of veterans should be evaluated and expanded, as necessary. We should also help military families plan for predictable life events likely to challenge their resilience and coping capacities. Future research should focus on the following: factors that mediate the relationship between PTSD, war atrocities, caregiver burden, and family dysfunction; effective family-centered interventions that can be scaled-up to meet the needs of a dispersed population; and system-level innovations necessary to ensure adequate access to these interventions.

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Section: Current Eramentioning

confidence: 74%

Long-Term Trajectories and Service Needs for Military Families

Link

Palinkas

2013

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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“…Our results add to the findings of recent previous studies that documented deployment-related changes in child behavior by linking them to clinically apparent psychological and behavioral issues that merit the clinical attention of a pediatric provider. 14,16 Previous research has documented the differences between paternally and maternally separated children. 19 One possible explanation is that the mothers remaining at home may be more likely to manifest their own mental health issues or that mothers are more likely to transfer their own mental health symptoms onto the child.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The age range of 3 to 8 years was chosen because it excluded the younger ages at which there are frequent well-child visits, corresponded to the ages included in previous studies that documented subclinical behavior changes, and included the developmental stage at which one of the authors (Dr Gorman) had observed an increase in behavioral concerns in his pediatric practice. 14,16 Children of National Guard or Reserve personnel were excluded. Each subject's demographic information and enrollment date were extracted.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wartime Military Deployment and Increased Pediatric Mental and Behavioral Health Complaints

2010

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WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Military deployment of a parent influences children's behavior in a variety of settings. The clinical significance of these deployment-associated behavior changes has not been determined. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Children experiencing separation from a parent due to wartime military deployment have an 11% increase in outpatient visits for mental and behavioral health complaints, which contrasts with a general deploymentassociated decrease in health care visits in all other diagnostic categories.abstract BACKGROUND: Children of military personnel face stress when a parent deploys. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to determine the effect of parental military deployment on the relative rate of outpatient visits for mental and behavioral health disorders in children aged 3 to 8 years. METHODS:This was a retrospective cohort study. Records of children of active-duty personnel during fiscal years 2006 and 2007 were linked with their parent's deployment records. Mental and behavioral health visits were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, codes. The incidence rate ratio (IRR) of visits per year according to parental deployment status was determined with random-effects negative binomial regression modeling with longitudinal data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 642 397 children aged 3 to 8 years and 442 722 military parents were included. Mean child age was 5.0 years (SD: 1.9 years); 50.6% were male, and 68.0% were white. Ninety percent of the parents were male, and 90.5% were married; 32.0% of the parents were deployed during the study. There were 1 049 081 person-years with 611 115 mental and behavioral health visits (0.6 visit per year). The IRR of mental and behavioral health visits for children with a deployed parent compared with when a parent was home was 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.14; P Ͻ .001). IRRs of pediatric anxiety, behavioral, and stress disorders when a parent deployed were 1.14 (95% CI: 0.98 -1.32; P ϭ .095), 1.19 (95% CI: 1.07-1.32; P Ͻ .001), and 1.18 (95% CI: 1.10 -1.26; P Ͻ .001), respectively. Older children and children with military fathers and married parents had larger increases in rates of mental and behavioral health visits during parental deployments. In contrast, the overall outpatient rate and rates of visits for other diagnoses decreased when a parent was deployed. CONCLUSIONS: Mental and behavioral health visits increased by 11% in these children when a military parent deployed; behavioral disorders increased 19% and stress disorders increased 18%. Rates especially increased in older children and children of married and male military parents.

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“…The development of young children may be especially susceptible to stress in the parent-child system (8). Because children's reactions to stressors are strongly related to those of at-home-caregivers (9)(10)(11), parents who model effective coping are more likely to create conditions for their children to cope well and to help them to develop their resilience. Parents that are functioning well are unlikely to be socially isolated or show symptoms of depression and are more likely to help their children to cope and to show them sensitivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%