The Effects of Military Deployment on Children's Psychosocial Functioning as Related to Parental Stress and Marital Satisfaction

Military families are a unique population, facing high demands especially during times of separation due to deployment. Previous research highlights the significant impact of parental deployment on children's well-being. Researchers have begun to question how current deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan affect the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of military children. The current study examined the psychosocial functioning of children with deployed and nondeployed parents. In addition, the study assessed the degree to which parental perceived stress and marital satisfaction account for variation in children's psychosocial functioning. A total of 365 female military spouses completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a measure of psychosocial functioning, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS). Children experiencing parental deployment demonstrated higher levels of psychosocial functioning difficulties compared to children not experiencing parental deployment. However, the relationship between deployment status and children's psychosocial functioning did not vary according to gender or age. Although previous research has found differences in children's behavior due to type of deployment, the current study did not find a significant difference in psychosocial functioning between children with a parent deployed to a combat zone compared to children with a parent deployed to a non-combat zone. Moreover, females with a spouse deployed perceived their lives as more stressful, yet differences between marital satisfaction and deployment status were not found. Lastly, mother's perceived stress was a significant predictor of children's psychosocial functioning, whereas marital satisfaction was not