Abstract
The current study examined the impact of active duty service members’ symptoms following a combat deployment on child mental health symptoms. Soldiers from a brigade combat team (N = 974) participated in the study 2 months following return from a 15-month combat deployment to Afghanistan, of which 169 soldiers (17.3%) reported having at least one child living at home. Results supported two research hypotheses examining the interrelationship between parental posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, general aggression, and marital distress on child mental health. First, the study documented a moderate association between parental PTSD symptoms and child mental health symptoms during the postdeployment reintegration period. This association was significant even after accounting for marital distress. Second, the study demonstrated that the impact of PTSD symptoms on child mental health symptoms may be explained by parental general aggression such that aggression mediated the PTSD symptoms–child mental health association.
Highlights
Deployment separation is one of the greatest demands of the military lifestyle on military families as it includes the risk of injury or death of the service member, as well as additional responsibilities for the at-home spouse who must adjust to the role of a single parent (Wright, Riviere, Merrill, & Cabrera, 2013)
Two research questions were examined: Research Question 1: Can the parental posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)–child mental health association be documented for a sample of active duty service members who had just returned from a combat deployment, and is the association significant even after accounting for a known risk factor for child mental health problems—marital distress? Research Question 2: Is the impact of PTSD symptoms in returning service members on child mental health explained by general aggression of the parent?
64% of the sample reported being attacked or ambushed, 79% reported that an improvised explosive device (IED) or booby trap exploding near them, and 51% reported a member of their own unit was killed in action
Summary
Deployment separation is one of the greatest demands of the military lifestyle on military families as it includes the risk of injury or death of the service member, as well as additional responsibilities for the at-home spouse who must adjust to the role of a single parent (Wright, Riviere, Merrill, & Cabrera, 2013). The returned soldier’s posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms predicted child depression as well as internalizing and externalizing behaviors. These studies support the relationship between child psychological adjustment and parental deployment, they do not explain the reasons why these effects occur. To investigate the association between mental health symptoms in returning service members and the effects on their children, a targeted assessment to determine possible pathways and mediators is needed To this end, the current study examined the interrelationship between the active duty service member’s PTSD symptoms, general aggression, and marital distress following a combat deployment on child mental health symptoms. Two research questions were examined: Research Question 1: Can the parental PTSD–child mental health association be documented for a sample of active duty service members who had just returned from a combat deployment, and is the association significant even after accounting for a known risk factor for child mental health problems—marital distress? Research Question 2: Is the impact of PTSD symptoms in returning service members on child mental health explained by general aggression of the parent?
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