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Research
& Resources

Evidence, data, and research that provide context to the stories we tell.

Collection 01 5 Studies · 1992–2014

The Children Left at Home

What the research tells us about a parent’s deployment, absence, and a child’s mental health

A growing body of research shows that a parent’s deployment and absence leave a real, lasting mark on a child’s emotional life — and helps us better understand stories like Jason’s and Larry’s.

  1. 307,000

    Military children studied

    01

    The longer the deployment, the higher the risk.

    In a study of more than 307,000 military children, kids were more likely to be diagnosed with depression, anxiety, or a stress-related condition while a parent was deployed. And the longer that parent was away, the higher the risk climbed.

    Mansfield et al., Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2011

  2. Age 3

    Where the effects already show

    02

    Even at age 3.

    Children as young as three years old showed more emotional and behavioral struggles when a parent was deployed, a reminder that this isn’t something the youngest simply don’t notice.

    Chartrand et al., Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2008

  3. 6–9×

    School changes before graduation

    03

    A new school, again and again.

    Military children change schools six to nine times before they graduate, about three times as often as their peers. Each move can mean leaving friends and starting over, often while a parent is deployed.

    Ruff & Keim, The Professional Counselor, 2014

  4. After
    Homecoming

    When the struggles continue

    04

    It lasts past homecoming.

    When researchers followed military children over time, the depression and behavioral struggles tied to a parent’s deployments lasted even after that parent came home. The strain of those years stays with a child long after the uniform comes off.

    Lester et al., Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010

  5. 1 in 3+

    Veterans with PTSD in one study

    05

    Trauma travels.

    Among veterans living with PTSD in one study, more than a third had a child in the clinical range for behavioral problems, far more than those without PTSD. Often it is not the service itself, but the trauma that comes home with it, that reaches the next generation.

    Jordan et al., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1992

Numbers like these don’t decide a child’s future.

But they tell us where support is needed, and behind every statistic is a family that deserved more support than it got, and still does.

Sources in This Collection