Substance Abuse and Other Adverse Outcomes for Military-Connected Youth in California

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Military families and military-connected youth exhibit significant strengths; however, a sizeable proportion of these families appear to be struggling in the face of war-related stressors. Understanding the consequences of war is critical as a public health concern and because additional resources may be needed to support military families. OBJECTIVE To determine whether rates of adverse outcomes are higher for military-connected adolescents during war compared with nonmilitary peers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This study is a secondary data analysis of a large, normative, and geographically comprehensive administrative data set (2013 California Healthy Kids Survey) to determine whether military-connected youth are at risk for adverse outcomes, including substance use, experiencing violence and harassment, and weapon carrying, during wartime. These outcomes are of particular concern because they affect socioemotional adjustment and academic success. Data were collected in March and April 2013 and participants included 54 679 military-connected and 634 034 nonmilitaryconnected secondary school students from public civilian schools in every county and almost all school districts in California. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Outcomes included lifetime and recent use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, prescription medications, and other drugs, as well as experiences of physical and nonphysical violence and harassment and weapon carrying during the last year. RESULTS Multivariable logistic regression models indicated that military-connected youth had greater odds of substance use, experience of physical violence and nonphysical harassment, and weapon carrying. For example, military-connected youth had 73% greater odds of recent other drug use (eg, cocaine and lysergic acid diethylamide; odds ratio [OR], 1.73; 95% CI, 1.66-1.80) and twice the odds of bringing a gun to school (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 2.10-2.30) compared with nonmilitary-connected peers. Their odds of being threatened with a weapon or being in a fight were also significantly higher than their civilian counterparts (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.80-1.95 and OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.62-1.71, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Most military-connected youth demonstrate resilience. However, results suggest that during wartime, military-connected youth are at increased risk for adverse outcomes. Further, when compared with data from 2011, the rates of these negative outcomes appear to be increasing. These findings suggest a need to identify and intervene with military-connected adolescents and reflect a larger concern regarding the well-being of military families during wartime.

The Deployment Life Study: Longitudinal Analysis of Military Families Across the Deployment Cycle

“…That is, it appears that older teens may be suppressing the initiation of drug use during parental deployment, and then catching up with their peers who have begun to use drugs during a similar period of time, ending up similar at the end of the study. This finding is somewhat contrary to recent information from a cross-sectional study of teens in military and nonmilitary families in California, which showed higher rates of drug use among the military-affiliated teens (Sullivan et al, 2015). It is possible that our short time frame partly explains this difference.…”

Community‐Level Exposure to the Rural Mining Industry: The Potential Influence on Early Adolescent Alcohol and Tobacco Use

“…While there were no rural‐urban differences in parental monitoring, it is important to consider parental monitoring given the extended working hours and shift work inherent in the mining occupation. We also found that alcohol use was consistently higher among adolescents with military family involvement, supporting previous research . Military family involvement did not account for higher levels of substance use reported by youth living in rural mining counties; however, the military shares many similarities to the rural mining industry in terms of its male dominated culture and the potential influence that it can have on adolescent alcohol and tobacco use behaviors .…”

Physical Fighting Among Male and Female Adolescents of Military Families: Results From a Representative Sample of High School Students

“…Analysis of the 2013 California Healthy Kids Survey conducted in most school districts throughout California demonstrated higher odds of being in a fight among military-connected youth compared with their nonmilitary-connected peers (Sullivan et al, 2015). Analysis of the 2013 California Healthy Kids Survey conducted in most school districts throughout California demonstrated higher odds of being in a fight among military-connected youth compared with their nonmilitary-connected peers (Sullivan et al, 2015).…”

“…Analysis of the 2013 California Healthy Kids Survey conducted in most school districts throughout California demonstrated higher odds of being in a fight among military-connected youth compared with their nonmilitary-connected peers (Sullivan et al, 2015). For example, despite the known association between substance use and physical violence (Baskin-Sommers & Sommers, 2006;Boles & Miotto, 2003;Ellickson, Saner, & McGuigan, 1997;Harrison, Erickson, Adlaf, & Freeman, 2001;Hoaken & Stewart, 2003), as well as the demonstrated increase in substance use among adolescents from military families (Acion et al, 2013;Gilreath et al, 2013;Reed et al, 2011;Sullivan et al, 2015), only one study controlled for the confounding effect of substance use (Reed et al, 2014). While these studies suggest a potential association between family military involvement and physical fighting among adolescents, control for potentially important confounding factors is lacking.…”