The Effects of Combat Deployments on Children and Spouses
Abstract
In the past seven years, the United States has deployed a phenomenal number of service members, impacting their children and spouses. Each of these families has available--and tailored to them--a plethora of resources, including mental health programs, formal and informal support groups, practical and logistical support programs, and libraries of materials to help families cope. Yet there is still a perception, within the military spouse community, as well as outside the installation gates, that the Department of Defense (DOD) is not meeting the needs of families. There have been a limited number of scientific studies--those already done are limited in their scope or applicability--on the impacts of deployments on family members, though the topic is receiving more interest as Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom continue and will probably gain additional momentum as the platform of choice for First Lady Michelle Obama. There is clearly a void: a DOD-contracted research team found "no long-term study of the effects of single or multiple deployments on families." A presidential task force charged with reviewing deployments' psychological impact on families "did not find evidence of comprehensive, system-wide research efforts to address questions of importance to the clinical needs and care of military personnel and their families."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 12, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA540130
Entities
People
- John C. Pepin
Organizations
- Air War College