The Associations Between Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Moves, Parenting Stress, and Family Resilience in Relation to the Physical and Psychological Health in a Sample of High-Risk Military Adolescents
Abstract
Permanent change of station (PCS) moves are a frequent and significant stressor for military families. At any given time, approximately one-third of military families are experiencing disruptions due to a PCS move. Military families rank PCS moves as highly stressful--second only to deployment. Consequently, it is important to understand how the stress of military relocation may adversely impact servicemembers, their families, and the military's family readiness system. Past work has focused on how PCS moves influence servicemember readiness and operational performance. Comparatively little research has examined the biopsychosocial sequelae of PCS moves for military children and adolescents. The existing research on the impact of PCS moves for military adolescents suggests relocation stress interacts with: the stress, mental health, and coping of the parent; community/familial resources; and the frequency/recency of relocation events. Youth with inherent vulnerabilities (e.g., anxiety, loss of control eating) and psychosocial risk history may be particularly affected by PCS moves. Assessment methods utilizing both biological and psychological data offer a promising method of understanding military relocation stress influence on adolescent development - especially for at-risk youth samples. Given the dearth of research on this important topic, this study's goals are: 1) to study the association between PCS moves and physical/psychological health in a vulnerable adolescent sample; and 2) to determine if the proposed association is moderated by: community/familial factors (i.e., family resilience) and the stress, mental health, and coping of the parent (i.e., parenting stress). To accomplish these goals, the study conducted a secondary analysis drawn from the Preventing Obesity in Military Communities - Adolescents study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02671292).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 22, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1212232
Entities
People
- Phillip C. Kroke
Organizations
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences