The Impact of Shared Location on the Mental Health of Military and Civilian Adolescents in a Community Affected by Frequent Deployments: A Research Note

Abstract

Preliminary results of our survey of 1066 adolescent members of a Canadian Forces (CF) community, comparing the mental health and well-being of CF and civilian youth in a secondary school adjacent to an army base, yielded surprising results. The data were collected in 2008 with an instrument that replicated parts of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). Our findings suggested that there are few statistically significant differences between CF and civilian youth on mental health and well-being measures. On the other hand, both the CF and civilian youth scored lower on crucial health and well-being measures than their peers in the national NLSCY sample. This research note attempts to explain these complementary findings, using data from follow-up semi-structured interviews we conducted in 2009/10 with 60 of the CF adolescents. It also considers the possibility of a ‘‘spillover effect’’ of military life stressors on civilian youth.

Keywords

Canadian Forces youth/adolescents well-being mental health spillover effect

References

Erin Dimiceli et al., ‘‘Stressful Experiences, Coping Strategies, and Predictors of Health-related Outcomes Among Wives of Deployed Military Servicemen,’’ Armed Forces & Society 36:2 ( 2010): 3516373.

Catherine Bradshaw et al., ‘‘School Transitions Among Military Adolescents: A Qualitative Study of Stress and Coping,’’ School Psychology Review 39:1 (2010): 846-105.4.

B.K. Jordan et al., ‘‘Problems in Families of Male Vietnam Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,’’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60 (1992): 916-26; J.C. Beckham et al., ‘‘Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Profiles of Vietnam Combat Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Their Children,’’ Journal of Clinical Psychology 53 (1997): 847-852; V.S. Dansby et al., ‘‘Adolescent Children of Vietnam Combat Veteran Fathers: A Population at Risk,’’ Journal of Adolescence 22 (1999): 329-340; J. Westerink et al., ‘‘The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Partners and Children of Australian Vietnam Veterans,’’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33 (1999): 841-847; D. Begic et al., ‘‘Aggressive Behavior in Combat Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder,’’ Military Medicine 166 (2001): 671-676; A.C. Davidson and D.J. Mellor, ‘‘The Adjustment of Children of Australian Vietnam Veterans: Is There Evidence for the Transgenerational Transmission of the Effects of War-related Trauma?’’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 35:3 (2001): 345-351; R.E. Samper et al., ‘‘Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Parenting Satisfaction Among a National Sample of Male Vietnam Veterans,’’ Journal of Traumatic Stress 17:4 (2004): 311-315; J.M. Suozzi et al., ‘‘The Relationship Between Combat Exposure and the Transfer of Trauma-like Symptoms to Offspring of Veterans,’’ Traumatology 10 (2004): 17-37; C.T. Taft et al., ‘‘Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Anger, and Partner Abuse Among Vietnam Combat Veterans,’’ Journal of Family Psychology 21 (2007): 270-277; C.T. Taft et al., ‘‘An Examination of Family Adjustment Among Operation Desert Storm Veterans,’’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 76:4 (2008): 648-656; A. Chandra et al., ‘‘Children on the Homefront: The Experience of Children from Military Families,’’ Pediatrics 125 (2010): 13-22.

R.M. Bray and M.E. Marsden , ‘‘Trends in Substance Use Among US Military Personnel: The Impact of Changing Demographic Composition,’’ Substance Use & Misuse 35 (2000): 949-969; M.A. Schuckit et al., ‘‘A Measure of the Intensity of Response to Alcohol in a Military Population,’’ American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 27 (2001): 749-757; M.W. Vander Weg et al., ‘‘Binge Drinking and Driving, and Riding With a Driver Who Had Been Drinking Heavily Among Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Personnel,’’ Military Medicine 171 (2006): 177-183.

C. Cronin, C. (1995). Adolescent Reports of Parental Spousal Violence in Military and Civilian Families,’’ Journal of Interpersonal Violence 10 (1995): 117-122; R.E. Heyman and P. Neidig, ‘‘A Comparison of Spousal Aggression Prevalence in U.S. Army and Civilian Representative Samples,’’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 67 (1999): 239-42; J.E. McCarroll et al., ‘‘Deployment and the Probability of Spousal Aggression by U.S. Army Soldiers,’’ Military Medicine 165 (2000): 41-44; V.W. Savarese et al., ‘‘Relationships Among Alcohol Use, Hyperarousal, and Marital Abuse and Violence in Vietnam Veterans,’’ Journal of Traumatic Stress 14 (2001): 717- 732; K.B. Schmaling et al., ‘‘Variables Associated with Intimate Partner Violence in a Deploying Military Sample,’’ Military Medicine 171 (2006): 627-631.

See, for example, Leora N. Rosen et al., ‘‘The Effects of Peer Group Climate on Intimate Partner Violence Among Married U.S. Army Soldiers,’’ Violence Against Women 9 ( 2003): 1045-71; D. Harrison , ‘‘The Role of Military Culture in Military Organizations’ Responses to Woman Abuse in Military Families,’’ The Sociological Review 54 (2006 ): 546-574.

T.D. Lewis , Oromocto, New Brunswick, from Village to Model Town: Rural Community Transformed (Unpublished MA thesis, University of New Brunswick, 1996).

Statistics Canada , National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth 1994-1995: Public Use Microdata Files User’s Documentation (Ottawa, 1997).

These students were included as civilians when the comparative analyses were done, with negligible differences in the outcomes examined here.

10.

We employed the longitudinal weight provided in the data set for the NLSCY cohort to account for sampling and attrition, although it should be noted that unweighted results were quite similar.

11.

This non-traditional state of affairs, applicable to most Canadian military communities, has evolved gradually over the last 15 or so years.