title: Child maltreatment among U.S. Air Force parents deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.
abstract: This study examined child maltreatment perpetration among 99,697 active-duty U.S. Air Force parents who completed a combat deployment. Using the deploying parent as the unit of analysis, we analyzed whether child maltreatment rates increased postdeployement relative to predeployment. These analyses extend previous research that used aggregate data and extend our previous work that used data from the same period but used the victim as the unit of analysis and included only deploying parents who engaged in child maltreatment. In this study, 2% (n = 1,746) of deploying parents perpetrated child maltreatment during the study period. Although no overall differences were found in child maltreatment rates postdeployment compared to predeployment, several maltreatment-related characteristics qualified this finding. Rates for emotional abuse and mild maltreatment were lower following deployment, whereas child maltreatment rates for severe maltreatment were higher following deployment. The finding that rates of severe child maltreatment, including incidents involving alcohol use, were higher postdeployment suggests a need for additional support services for parents following their return from combat deployment, with a focus on returning parents who have an alcohol use problem.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA rmccarthy3@niu.edu.
authors.forename: Mandy M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Rabenhorst
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Randy J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Cynthia J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Joel S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Milner
authors.affiliation: USAF Family Advocacy Program, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Wendy J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.affiliation: USAF Family Advocacy Program, San Antonio, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Marie P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Colasanti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: active duty; air force; child maltreatment; combat deployment; military; operation Iraqi freedom; operation enduring freedom