title: The Impact of Deployment on Parental, Family and Child Adjustment in Military Families.
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.
authors.affiliation: Nathanson Family Resilience Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, A8-153, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA. plester@mednet.ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.affiliation: Nathanson Family Resilience Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, A8-153, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
authors.forename: Hilary
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aralis
authors.affiliation: Nathanson Family Resilience Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, A8-153, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
authors.forename: Maegan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Nathanson Family Resilience Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, UCLA, 760 Westwood Plaza, A8-153, Los Angeles, CA, 90024, USA.
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kiff
authors.affiliation: Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mustillo
authors.affiliation: Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Shelley MacDermid
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wadsworth
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000066498:Emotional Adjustment; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D066067:Military Family / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011592:Psychology, Military / Q000379:methods; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014481:United States
keywords: Child social emotional adjustment; Family adjustment; Military deployments; Military parent behavioral health; Parental sensitivity; Parenting