Impact of deployment on military families with young children: A systematic review

Trautmann, Jennifer; Alhusen, Jeanne L.; Gross, Deborah

doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2015.06.002

Cited by 60 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…1,35 A systematic review of 26 studies found an association between increased deployment-related stress and mental health problems in parents and young children as well as increased use of mental health resources. 36 One of these studies demonstrated an increase in outpatient and well-child visits during deployment for children of married parents, which may be attributed to the effect of deployment-related stress on the spouse who was not deployed. 37 Conversely, the authors found decreased visits for children of single parents, which may be attributed to a decreased effect of deployment on a nonparent caregiver or lack of familiarity navigating the health care system.…”

Section: Health Care Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families

Huebner¹,

Kimball-Eayrs

Burnett

et al. 2019

Pediatrics

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Children in US military families share common experiences and unique challenges, including parental deployment and frequent relocation. Although some of the stressors of military life have been associated with higher rates of mental health disorders and increased health care use among family members, there are various factors and interventions that have been found to promote resilience. Military children often live on or near military installations, where they may attend Department of Defense-sponsored child care programs and schools and receive medical care through military treatment facilities. However, many families live in remote communities without access to these services. Because of this wide geographic distribution, military children are cared for in both military and civilian medical practices. This clinical report provides a background to military culture and offers practical guidance to assist civilian and military pediatricians caring for military children.

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Section: Health Care Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families

Huebner¹,

Kimball-Eayrs

Burnett

et al. 2019

Pediatrics

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“…This finding has emerged in studies of children and adolescents in the United States , Canada , and Britain , as well as in studies of adult children of fathers deployed to earlier conflicts from other countries, including Israel and Africa . In addition, children are more likely to be depressed or have behavioral problems when deployment distresses the spouse or partner of the deployed service member, while parents are often the source of data about children, which may dilute the finding . Although many studies consider children's sex and age, no consistent patterns have emerged .…”

Section: What Factors Boost or Blunt The Effects Of Deployment On Chimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, children are more likely to be depressed or have behavioral problems when deployment distresses the spouse or partner of the deployed service member, while parents are often the source of data about children, which may dilute the finding (24,29). Although many studies consider children's sex and age, no consistent patterns have emerged (30).…”

Section: What Factors Boost or Blunt The Effects Of Deployment On Chimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature reviews of research on military children are rife with criticisms of convenience samples, cross-sectional designs, retrospective reports, overreliance on parental or self-reports, overemphasis on negative outcomes, lack of attention to children of female service members and veterans, and lack of attention to mediating and moderating variables (24,29,34 (37). Finally, RAND Corporation recently completed the Deployment Life Study, which looked at 2,724 families quarterly for 3 years across a deployment cycle (38).…”

Section: Limits and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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U.S. Military Children and the Wartime Deployments of Family Members

Wadsworth

Bailey

Coppola

2016

Child Dev Perspectives

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In 2014, 1.8 million American children lived in military families, and they represented only a fraction of the U.S. children exposed directly to parents' wartime deployments over the past 15 years. In this article, we summarize recent research about military children in U.S. families and propose directions for research. Emerging from studies across the country are troubling elevations in levels of risky behaviors and mental health problems in military children, particularly when their parents have been deployed. The experiences of children in military families can help us understand risk and resilience not just in military children but in children in the general population.

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“…Another factor was the emerging institutional embrace of a systemic understanding of the ways in which a service member's family and children are also impacted by wartime deployments and that the health and well‐being of this primary supportive context was central to the task of maintaining force readiness and the ability of service members to perform in repeated, sometimes back to back deployments (American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force, ; Glynn, ; Institute of Medicine, ; US DOD, ). From 2001 to 2014 there was an explosion of research on the effects of wartime deployment, combat exposure, parental PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and a host of other war‐related conditions on military children, spouses, and the quality of marital and family functioning (Chandra et al., ; Creech, Hadley, & Borsari, ; U.S. Department of Defense, ; Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, ; Institute of Medicine, ; Sheppard, Weil Malatras, & Israel, ; Trautmann, Alhusen, & Gross, ). Collectively, these studies have offered empirical support for systemic models of family functioning and a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms by which stress and trauma reverberate across family and partner relationships (Chandra et al., ; Gewirtz, McMorris, Hanson, & Davis, ; MacDermid Wadsworth, ; Paley, Lester, & Mogil, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathways of Risk and Resilience: Impact of a Family Resilience Program on Active‐Duty Military Parents

Saltzman¹,

Lester²,

Milburn³

et al. 2016

Family Process

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Over the past decade, studies into the impact of wartime deployment and related adversities on service members and their families have offered empirical support for systemic models of family functioning and a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms by which stress and trauma reverberate across family and partner relationships. They have also advanced our understanding of the ways in which families may contribute to the resilience of children and parents contending with the stressors of serial deployments and parental physical and psychological injuries. This study is the latest in a series designed to further clarify the systemic functioning of military families and to explicate the role of resilient family processes in reducing symptoms of distress and poor adaptation among family members. Drawing upon the implementation of the Families Overcoming Under Stress (FOCUS) Family Resilience Program at 14 active-duty military installations across the United States, structural equation modeling was conducted with data from 434 marine and navy active-duty families who participated in the FOCUS program. The goal was to better understand the ways in which parental distress reverberates across military family systems and, through longitudinal path analytic modeling, determine the pathways of program impact on parental distress. The findings indicated significant cross-influence of distress between the military and civilian parents within families, families with more distressed military parents were more likely to sustain participation in the program, and reductions in distress among both military and civilian parents were significantly mediated by improvements in resilient family processes. These results are consistent with family systemic and resilient models that support preventive interventions designed to enhance family resilient processes as an important part of comprehensive services for distressed military families.

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Impact of deployment on military families with young children: A systematic review

Abstract: More research using multiple methods, stronger designs, and more diverse samples is needed to understand and address the needs of military families with young children.

Cited by 60 publications

References 60 publications

Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families

Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families

U.S. Military Children and the Wartime Deployments of Family Members

Pathways of Risk and Resilience: Impact of a Family Resilience Program on Active‐Duty Military Parents

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