Military child well-being in the face of multiple deployments

Military children’s difficulty with reintegration after deployment: A relational turbulence model perspective.

“…Second, children’s age emerged as a risk factor, with fathers reporting that older children fared worse than younger children. These covariate results complement previous work (Barker & Berry, 2009; Chandra et al, 2010; Lipari et al, 2011) and imply that support services should target older children for maximum effectiveness.…”

“…Our findings for RQ1 imply that military family life professionals should not delay offering assistance because military children do not appear to experience the honeymoon period thought to exist for adults (e.g., Milliken et al, 2007; Pincus et al, 2001), but instead may experience stable levels of reintegration difficulty. Our covariate findings hint that older children may be particularly vulnerable to reintegration difficulty, commensurate with age as a marker of risk highlighted by prior research (Chandra et al, 2010; Lipari et al, 2011). Our substantive analyses demonstrate that when parents grapple with depressive symptoms (H1), relationship uncertainty (H2), and interference from a partner (H3), they report that their children adjust to reunion less effectively.…”

Experiences of Military Youth During a Family Member’s Deployment

“…The relational turbulence model also identifies challenges as a key component of transitions (Knobloch & Theiss, 2012; Solomon & Theiss, 2011). Children are likely to face substantial challenges in light of evidence that deployment takes a toll on both their physical and emotional health (Chandra, Lara-Cinisomo, et al, 2010; Gorman et al, 2010; Lipari et al, 2010). Extant findings imply that youth may worry about the service member’s safety, feel lonely when the service member misses special occasions, and struggle to complete new domestic duties (Chandra, Burns, Tanielian, Jaycox, & Scott, 2008; Houston et al, 2009; Huebner et al, 2007).…”

“…Second, the bulk of work has focused on the negative consequences of deployment, which leaves unanswered questions about opportunities for growth (Palmer, 2008; Park, 2011; Ternus, 2010). On a methodological level, narratives gleaned from one-on-one interviews with children would complement previous studies soliciting the reports of parents (e.g., Flake et al, 2009; Lipari et al, 2010) and the comments of adolescents in focus groups (e.g., Huebner, Mancini, Wilcox, Grass, & Grass, 2007; Mmari et al, 2009). Perhaps the most important contribution, however, would be pragmatic.…”

“…Military children in large numbers have been affected by the increased operational tempo of deployments since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. When a family member is deployed, youth are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems (Chandra, Lara-Cinisomo, et al, 2010; Lester et al, 2010; Lipari, Winters, Matos, Smith, & Rock, 2010), health complaints (Gorman, Eide, & Hisle-Gorman, 2010), elevated blood pressure (Barnes, Davis, & Treiber, 2007), and academic difficulty (Engel, Gallagher, & Lyle, 2010). Clearly, deployment can be very difficult for children (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009), yet despite these stressors, many youth are remarkably resilient (Lester et al, 2011; Park, 2011).…”