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The Impact of Deployment on Parental, Family and Child Adjustment in Military Families

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Abstract

Since 9/11, military service in the United States has been characterized by wartime deployments and reintegration challenges that contribute to a context of stress for military families. Research indicates the negative impact of wartime deployment on the well being of service members, military spouses, and children. Yet, few studies have considered how parental deployments may affect adjustment in young children and their families. Using deployment records and parent-reported measures from primary caregiving (N = 680) and military (n = 310) parents, we examined the influence of deployment on adjustment in military families with children ages 0–10 years. Greater deployment exposure was related to impaired family functioning and marital instability. Parental depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms were associated with impairments in social emotional adjustment in young children, increased anxiety in early childhood, and adjustment problems in school-age children. Conversely, parental sensitivity was associated with improved social and emotional outcomes across childhood. These findings provide guidance to developing preventive approaches for military families with young children.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by contract W91WAW-10-C-0062 issued by the Department of Defense to Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and Sarah Mustillo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nathanson Family Resilience Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, A8-153, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA

    Patricia Lester, Hilary Aralis, Maegan Sinclair & Cara Kiff

  2. Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Kyung-Hee Lee & Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

  3. Department of Sociology, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Sarah Mustillo

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  1. Patricia Lester
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  2. Hilary Aralis
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  3. Maegan Sinclair
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  5. Kyung-Hee Lee
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  6. Sarah Mustillo
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  7. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth
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Correspondence to Patricia Lester.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the policies or positions of the U.S. Department of Defense or Government.

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Lester, P., Aralis, H., Sinclair, M. et al. The Impact of Deployment on Parental, Family and Child Adjustment in Military Families. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 47, 938–949 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-016-0624-9

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