A Duty to Care

Recent studies investigating children’s responses to parental separation during Operation Desert Storm find that children of deployed parents, compared to peers in families of non-deployed service members, had elevated levels of depressive symptoms. Another study found that one-third of children were at high risk for psychological problems and that approximately half of parents reported significant parenting stress during deployment of their spouse.Other investigators have found that children with a currently deployed or recently returned military parent had higher levels of anxiety compared to others in their community.  Students with deployed parents have slightly lower test scores and somewhat more school- and peer-related difficulties, and children aged 12 to 18 years, reported feelings of loss and insecurity, and symptoms of anxiety and depression related to the deployment of a parent.

Here are two initiatives designed to strengthen coping skills of military children with deployed parents. The first focses on the families themselves and the second on professionals who work with them

Family and Child Health Passport Toward Success:

This program for National Guard families is designed to help children and adolescents reconnect with their parents following a return from deployment. The program was developed by the Military Family Research Institute at the request of the Indiana National Guard and is offered two months after a return from deployment. Passport Toward Success stresses family socialization activities using games and other entertaining formats. The activities provide examples of social skills, opportunities to rehearse those skills, and a discussion about generalizing those skills to situations at home.

A preliminary evaluation of the program found that before participation, one half to three quarters of participating children reported worrying about their at-home parent, crying more, feeling that the family was more stressed, and having trouble sleeping. After the program, 90% reported that they had learned new skills for coping with their stresses. 

Coming Together Around Military Families:

The goal of this campaign is to increase awareness and understanding of the unique needs of children aged three or younger, in military families. A major component of the campaign, Duty to Care 1: Supporting Young Children Through Challenging Times, provides interdisciplinary training for professionals who work closely with military families, helping them to better understand how very young children are impacted by loss of a parent's presence. This two-day training provides up-to-date information on the experiences of deployment on families with young children, the results of research on the impact of stress on very young children, strategies for accessing community resources, and ways of working with others to support young children and their military families.