Reference:
Flittner O’Grady, A. E., MacDermid Wadsworth, S. M., Willerton, E., Cardin, J. F., Topp, D., Mustillo, S., & Lester, P. (2015). Help seeking by parents in military families on behalf of their young children. Psychological Services, 12(3), 231-240. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000027
Summary:
During Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, more than one million children faced a parent’s deployment, increasing the risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Current research has shown that military parents of children experiencing problems are not using the services available to them as often as they could.
MFRI contributing authors studied military family help-seeking activities with regard to children’s problems. Specifically, they examined emotional and behavioral problems in children younger than 10 years old. In general, the study found parents knew about these problems.
Noteworthy findings include:
- Military families are aware that their children may have problems.
- There was not a significant gender difference in the recognition of problems.
- Children’s experiences of deployment were related to the use of services.
- Families who used services most often relied on primary care providers.
- Many military families use civilian services. This means civilian providers must understand military family issues.