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Report: Long Deployments Put Military Children at Increased Risk for Mental Health Problems

Report: Long Deployments Put Military Children at Increased Risk for Mental Health ProblemsThere’s no doubt that elongated military deployments put stress on families. Aside from physical separation from their loved ones, individuals sometimes face PTSD, injuries and other various stresses.

But, the challenges faced may also have a deep impact on the children of deployed servicemen and women. A new study published in The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine suggests that the impact of parents’ long military service may be profound on the minds of young kids. According to The Huffington Post:

Children with one or more parent on long-term deployment in Iraq or Afghanistan have a higher chance of mental health problems, according to a new study out this month. Recent estimates suggest that more than 44 percent of active duty members have kids.

Using data from more than 300,000 children who had at least one active-duty U.S. Army parent between 2003 and 2006, researchers found that the length of deployment played a significant role in overall mental health.

The study found that mental health issues seemed to increase with the length of deployment. This was particularly true for boys and girls whose parents were deployed for more than 11 months.

During the time period studied, nearly 17 percent of children were diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The conditions that were most common were: depression, anxiety, behavior problems and sleep disorders.

This is not the first time this subject has been studied. Back in November, another study released by the journal Pediatrics also suggested that children with deployed parents are more likely to suffer from mental health disorders and behavior problems. According to ABC News:

[The study] tracked health claim records during 2006 and 2007 of nearly 650,000 children ages 3 to 8 and found that those with a parent deployed within the two years had an 11 percent higher rate of clinic visits because of mental health or behavioral issues than military children whose parents were not deployed. Researchers also noted the rate of visits increased as the child grew older.

Click here to find out more!This research also seemed to indicate that children with deployed fathers faced more problems than those with deployed mothers, though both experiences posed challenges for young people.

Deployment is no easy issue to contend with. Some remedies have been created to help children deal with this challenging issue. That said, additional research will shed light on the problems that are occurring so that experts can better meet the needs of children and families, alike.

Click here to find out more!

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Comments (23)

  • MUDFLAPS
    Posted on July 14, 2011 at 9:34pm

    and barry could care less.

    Report Post »  
  • Gypsy123
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 9:56pm

    Do you think the Huffington post would realize that it takes a male and female to raise children.

    Report Post » Gypsy123  
  • dontbotherme
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:07pm

    The extent of problems with the children depends on their age. (military family here) The older they get, the more normal it becomes. They adjust.

    Report Post »  
  • benrush
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 3:28pm

    here’s the rub: who benefits from promoting the hardships of military service US or THEM?

    Report Post »  
  • Dismayed Veteran
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 11:46am

    I am a 3rd generation “Army Brat” and put my time in the service. The one thing that is unique to military families is that they do not have a stable “home town”. The infrastrure of continuity of friends, being near to grandparents, attending the same school with everyone, etc. just is not there. Miitary housing is like a small town but with the population turning over with transfers and ETS.

    Personally, I attended 5 different grade schools and two different high schools. I got really good at making acquintances but not so good at making friends.

    Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • CalvinandHobbes
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 1:17pm

      You are right on the money! I was a Navy brat all thru my school years. I never stayed in one place longer than 4 yrs (2 different high schools). Then I served my 20 yrs in the Navy and continued to move every 4 yrs. I made friends easy enough, but it was usually with other Navy kids in housing. I have only one “best friend” I have known almost all my life. It wasn’t until I retired that I have lived in this small town longer than ANY place I have ever lived. The concept that my daughter was born and raised in this small town is is a concept I have never experienced. Its always hardest on the kids, but they are a resilient bunch and learn to adapt.

      Report Post » CalvinandHobbes  
    • Nobamazone
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 4:27pm

      Thank you both for your service! I have no first hand knowledge of what it is like to grow up in a military family, both my father and my husband served, but both were out before I knew them. But I do know children, and families.and what you described is already a stress on families and children.. although I totally agree that most are very resilient and do just perfectly with their families. Add having a parent in a war zone and unavailable to the children and OF COURSE it will be very hard on those kids! This is one of the MANY reasons I get so upset with our leaders always using the “No SS and we might not even be able to pay our military men and woman unless you let us do what we want and BORROW more money” threat! How about we leave our military and elderly alone and stop paying all WH staff, congress, reps, you know… the ones CAUSING the problems! Oh, but we have money to pay for a study like this, I would bet there was some grant money involved. How about we stop paying for stuff like THAT?

      Report Post » Nobamazone  
  • Lee_in_PA
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 11:20am

    How long before nanny state wants THESE children to go to foster care?

    Report Post » Lee_in_PA  
  • LindzJ
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 9:43am

    The video is a little odd and whiney, but the basic premise stands. As supervisor, I’ve seen the effects of deployment on military families, especially young children. A few have reacted very poorly to their dad’s absence. Ex: A 1.5 yr old that was normal and happy suddenly stopped talking and became very shy/depressed when dad left and it took a year after he came back to start talking again. They were good parents. Sure it can happen anywhere, but I wouldn’t totally dismiss the idea because of the source.

    Report Post »  
  • texaspatriots
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 8:04am

    Consider the source “Huffington Post” before you take this article seriously. I was a military kid – my daughter was a military kid – now a military spouse and my three grandchildren are military dependents. My dad was always gone, my husband was always gone and my son-in-law is always gone – but no appointments for mental health issues related to them serving their country.

    The Huffington Post is very anti-military and is always looking for ways to take it down and get people keyed up about a non-problem. I personally doubt this is acurate study information if the study is even real! Just because they print it doesn’t make it so – kinda like “Change”.

    Report Post »  
    • Sound The Trumpet In Zion
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 8:18am

      I agree TesasPatriots! Not only are you 100% right on, an additional thing to look at is that if the psychiatric business decides that a certain group of people should be having problems with stress or anything else the make sure that they are diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses even if they have to make some up.

      Report Post » Sound The Trumpet In Zion  
    • tower7femacamp
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 8:31am

      Bring all troops home NOW !

      A British police intelligence analyst who was asked to create a strategic assessment concerning terror threats was fired when he told his superiors that the threat of an “internal tyranny” was far greater than that of Islamic terrorism, after discovering that both 7/7 and 9/11 were false flag attacks.

      Tony Farrell, who has a university degree in statistics, was employed for 12 years as a ‘Police Intelligence Analyst’ with South Yorkshire Police. His job was to provide a yearly ‘Strategic Threat Assessment Matrix’ to enable police to prioritize resources and activities. Fully expecting Farrell to regurgitate the contention that Muslim extremists posed the biggest threat, his bosses were stunned when Farrell instead reported that the 2005 London bombings were staged by British intelligence and that the official story was a “monstrous lie”.
      http://www.infowars.com/police-intelligence-analyst-fired-for-blowing-whistle-on-false-flag-terror/

      Report Post » tower7femacamp  
    • JRook
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 9:44am

      This is all because Bush Jr. wouldn’t institute the draft to cover the necessary manpower to address the wars he started and the multiple deployments resulting from lack of manpower. Great example of politics taking priority over doing the right thing.

      Report Post »  
    • ginsberg
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 4:34pm

      Texaspatroit, you are so wrong, take a look at suicide stats for the military sometime, ignoring a problem doesny mean it is not there.

      Report Post »  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 8:02am

    And what about the military brats of the 40′s, we seem to be OK. A little weird but still yet OK. And we had no support, nothing, nada. Several books have been written about the older military brats, was that used as a comparison?

    Anyhoo my heart and prayers go out to the families of the military. I know it can and will be hard for them…Thank God for all voluntary Military men and women who freely chose to serve the greatest nation on earth!

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
    • ginsberg
      Posted on July 14, 2011 at 9:09am

      Samian, mental health issues were almost always ignored by the military back then, families still suffered, but a few pep pills and some reds to sleep were pretty much the extent of the “treatment” people recieved. Again, ignoring the effects of war on soldiers is an inhuman practice that still must be overcome, we need to increase funding for military hospitals now.

      Report Post »  
  • Jack2011
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:37am

    Cry me a river!

    No one FORCES a soldier to stay in the military. Bye bye.

    Children of pilots, salesmen, businessman, truckers, oil riggers, fishermen, reporters, etc. etc. etc. are in the SAME boat for MUCH less pay and benefits and NO retirement.

    I retired from the military. TRUST ME – it is much EASIER being IN the military (better pay/working conditions/ medical&dental and FULLY HALF your pay NOT TAXED including your rent/mortgage paid with UN-taxed wages WITH a guaranteed retirement check at the end, etc. etc.

    In my experience, it is the SPOUSES of the military who WANT their husbands to stay in FOR THOSE SAME BENEFITS. They know a good thing when they see it. Now dependents want to whine about it.

    Report Post »  
    • epmonroe
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:43am

      As a 12 year vet I have to agree with you.
      As an aside, what about our grandparents who went to war? They were gone for years at a time! No email. No phone. No skype. Letters took months to reach the recipient.
      I’m currently working over here in Iraq. We get to see and talk to our families pretty much every day. Yes it’s on video, but it’s a LOT than nothing at all.
      Stop your crying or get out, is what I say!

      Report Post » epmonroe  
    • watchmany2k
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:59am

      They have a MEDICATION FOR THAT !
      This is about the shrinks manual of “disorders” The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was recently “updated” to loosen the definitions to include even more people
      including infants.

      NO SURPRISE that their first line of treatment comes from BIG Pharma.
      Can you say KICKback ?

      Of course they highlight Military Patriots, as they must continue to disparage service to one’s country as being even neglectful to you family and children.

      TO use their logic, what about the bazillion familys destroyed by Divorce Every year ?
      What about the bazillion single parent familys ?
      What about the children of deceased parents ?

      I have NO doubt that the child of a Military person has a unique set of challenges.
      It is just that these shrinks want to infect their families with their drugs and mind games
      which will destroy long standing family military traditions.
      From what I see those who Chose sacrifice and service to their country tend to raise
      children who are equally motivated to do so.
      The liberal shrink machine cannot stand that.

      Better that they concentrate on single parent homes, THOSE homes create people that
      are state dependents, and a high population of prision inmates, not all, but a MAJORITY.
      Just look at the stats of prisoners, MOST of them come from broken homes.

      Leave our military families alone, with this particular MEME.
      If we want to do something good for them, let’s create college fun

      Report Post » watchmany2k  
    • watchmany2k
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 8:06am

      ……… Create college funds for ALL children of military
      that way families can spend their money on what they see fit.

      Keep the nadal hassans of this study away from military kids
      Bring them to Church, and other soldiers who have returned to help them
      avoid the BIG Pharma “solutions” they have in store.

      Report Post » watchmany2k  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:12am

    Living long under the current administration is leaving us at risk for mental health problems.

    Report Post »  
  • NOBALONEY
    Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:09am

    You needed a study to find this out? Without these brave men and women who serve now, and the ones that have served in the past know these difficulties as a fact of life. Support our troops!

    Report Post » NOBALONEY  
    • Nobamazone
      Posted on July 13, 2011 at 7:19am

      That’s what I was thinking! How much did we spend on this study?

      Report Post » Nobamazone  

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