Study documents effects of wartime deployment on children

Study documents effects of wartime deployment on children
(February 2009 Issue)

By Elinor Nelson

We know that the spouses of soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan may be stressed and suffering, but a new study by developmental pediatricians shows that younger children with parents deployed in war zones are having tough times, too. The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, evaluated 169 children aged 18 months to five who in 2007 were enrolled in day care centers on a large Marine base. This study was believed to be the first to explore the effects of deployment on a population so young.

Lead researcher Air Force Lt. Col. Molinda M. Chartrand, M.D., who spoke in a telephone interview from Germany where she is stationed, says that three to five-year-olds with a deployed parent were shown to have more behavioral problems than their peers without deployed parents. But children under three did not appear to do worse when a parent was deployed; in fact, they seemed to do better. More research is needed to determine causation, but Chartrand surmises that with one parent absent, the younger children may have had more "face time" with the remaining parent, which was beneficial enough to counteract the effects of the missing parent. For the slightly older children in the study, the extra time with the remaining parent (ninety percent were mothers) may not have been as important. The study "confirmed what was expected," says Chartrand, but the findings about the younger children were "surprising."

The on-site parent and a day care teacher each completed behavioral checklists. Researchers suggest that because of several factors, the study may actually under-estimate the incidence of these children's problems. The study controlled for parental depression and stress and the children's parents were deployed for an average of 3.9 months, while current deployments generally last for more than a year. Additionally, the study excluded children with pre-existing behavioral problems or disabilities, those not on a military base (which tend to offer supports) or in day care and those with parents in the Reserves or National Guard.

The study determined that about 20% of the children had "externalizing" troublesome behaviors including hitting and throwing tantrums, about twice that of the general population.

"More research needs to be done," says Chartrand. "We don't know the best ways to support these families." She notes that every military branch has versions of respite care, counseling, crisis management and family advocacy, but while "there are lots of programs, we don't even know if they're making a difference." More than two million American children have parents in Iraq or Afghanistan and 40% of these children are under five years of age. "These kids are paying the price" for their parents fighting the war, Chartrand adds.