title: Psychosocial screening in children with wartime-deployed parents.
abstract: Children of U.S. military families are exposed to unique challenges and stressors directly related to their parents' wartime deployments, potentially placing them at higher risk for psychosocial disruption. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of parental wartime military deployment on psychosocial symptoms as measured by parent and youth self-report on the Pediatric Symptom Checklist. During annual physicals at a large military pediatric clinic, parents (216) and youth (198) were surveyed about emotional and behavioral difficulties and the current status of parental deployment. Parents reported more child psychosocial symptoms, and youth self reported more psychosocial symptoms if there was a currently deployed parent. Youth self-reports may be another way to identify psychosocial symptoms in at-risk military youth. These findings accentuate the importance of training providers who care for military youth to recognize and respond to their unique needs during parental deployment.
authors.affiliation: 2D Medical Group/SGOK, 243 Curtiss Road, STE 100, Barksdale AFB, LA 71110-2425, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Catherine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Aranda
authors.forename: Laura S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flake
authors.forename: Beth Ellen
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008889:Military Personnel; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011320:Primary Health Care; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014857:Warfare