Addressing the Needs of Children and Families of Combat Injured

Abstract

This investigation focuses on measuring the impact of parental combat injury on military children and families. The study is a longitudinal design comparing families of combat-injured service members (CI group) and non-injured service members (NI group) across a 12-month time-frame. The CI group will be comprised of 200 injured service members and their spouses with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 18 years recruited from WRAMC and BAMC within the first 6 months of hospitalization. The NI group will be comprised of 200 active duty non-injured combat veterans (matched with CI participants for combat experience and relevant demographic factors) and their spouses with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 18 years recruited within 6 months of returning from deployment. Families will be assessed using self-report questionnaires and, for the CI Group, record review of a semi-structured interview currently used at clinical sites. Consenting parents and assenting children ages 6 to 18 years will complete questionnaires assessing the following domains: parental trauma exposure history, symptoms, and function; child traumatic exposure history, symptoms and function; parenting behaviors; and family functioning. Follow up assessments of parental symptoms and functioning, child symptoms and functioning, parenting behaviors, and family functioning will be completed 6 and 12 months after the initial assessment. For families who are not available to complete in-person assessment at 6 and/or 12 months, assessment will be conducted by telephone and measures will be administered verbally. Families will also be briefly contacted at 3 months and 9 months to check-in and inquire whether they are in need of additional resources.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 2011
Accession Number
ADA545574

Entities

People

  • Stephen J Cozza

Organizations

  • Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Active Duty
  • Biomedical Research
  • Combat Injuries
  • Demography
  • Department Of Defense
  • Electronic Mail
  • Health Services
  • Hospitalizations
  • Inclusions
  • Information Operations
  • Instructions
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Health
  • Patient Care
  • Questionnaires
  • Training

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Science in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • Clinical Trial Research.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.