An article in Foreign Policy touches on an issue that is pressing but often absent from the public eye – the challenges faced by military families.

The article focuses on a new study undertaken by two researchers at the Army War College, which looks at the effects of multiple deployments on a servicemember’s adolescent children (those between 11 and 17). The study found the following:

- Contrary to conventional wisdom, the study found that with each additional deployment, the adolescent’s stress level actually decreases (but not beyond the 4th and 5th deployment). Gerras and Wong speculate that Army adolescents mature and increasingly learn to cope with each new deployment, and that there is no evidence that multiple deployments have a cumulative negative effect on their mental health.
- Army adolescents are a lot more optimistic about their own well-being than their deployed parent.
- 14-16 year olds have noticeably less stress about a deployed parent than other ages according to Stephen Wong, who cited interview responses that said the absence of a disciplinarian made life easier. The stress level of 17 year olds goes back up, however, because they keenly feel the absence of a deployed parent at important life events, like high school graduation, sports matches, and the college or job search. A “flat daddy” would be a lousy substitute at these rites of passage.
- The two best predictors of an adolescent being able to successfully cope with having a deployed parent are the beliefs that their mom or dad is making a difference in the world and that the American public supports the war. It also helps if you are from a ‘strong family’ and play sports. (Let’s get those pasty teen Warcraft players out into the sunshine!)

Read the full article here.