Areas of Expertise

Areas of Expertise

The MFRI research program explores key experiences of military life. Our team designs and executes research projects with the goal of providing a more complete understanding of the complexities of the military experience and their implications for families and for military outcomes. Our project portfolio has generated expertise in three specific domains.

1. Children and youth: There is very limited scientific knowledge of the effects of extended and multiple deployments on military children. Research conducted on children during previous wars has been limited, and the duration and nature of most previous wars are so different from the current one that the experiences do not generalize very well. Much of the research on military populations has tended to focus on service members’ needs, in part because the challenges of responding to children’s needs, once identified, are immense. We strive to contribute to the body of knowledge that addresses child outcomes as a function of deployment-related experiences.

2. Families, particularly National Guard and Reserve families: Increasing our knowledge of families in the National Guard and Reserve has become increasingly important as a result of the global War on Terror. In addition to their transitions to and from deployment, these soldiers must transition to and from civilian jobs. Families in the National Guard and the Reserves receive less attention than their Active Duty counterparts on almost every dimension, and our understanding of these families’ needs is limited. The bulk of the available research data on military families comes from surveys administered on a single occasion, generating many ‘snapshots’ of military life. Our goal is to conduct research projects that capture experiences when families are facing challenges and their family systems are in flux. Developing an understanding of the key features of these transitions and the factors that really make a difference in the eventual outcome is very important.

3. Public health and family support: Our research program is designed to generate new knowledge about emerging military family issues. From a public health and family support standpoint, the current war is quite different from past wars and conflicts, resulting in an increased numbers of soldiers returning home from the war severely wounded or injured. Until now, most traumatic brain injuries have been experienced by young people injured in sports or motorcycle accidents, and most amputations have been experienced by older individuals as the result of diabetes or other illnesses. Today thousands of parents of young children are returning from war with life-altering injuries and it is important to generate knowledge that will help families adjust more easily. Another area of focus for our research program is to understand and evaluate accessibility to TRICARE medical providers who will accept new TRICARE patients. We are also interested in learning more about accessibility issues for National Guard and Reserve members who may not have convenient access to Military Treatment Facilities.