Staying Strong with Schools: Testing an Elementary School-Based Intervention for Military-Connected Children.

To address the unique behavioral health challenges facing military-connected children (MCC) during parental deployment and reintegration, we developed a low-cost, low-burden school-based intervention, Staying Strong With Schools (SSWS). SSWS builds upon best educational practice by formalizing relationships between administrators, guidance staff, teachers, and parents to enhance social connection to support psychosocial functioning of MCC. We previously evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention in an open pilot with 2 elementary schools, finding high feasibility and high acceptability.

Complicated Grief Among Military Service Members and Veterans Who Served After September 11, 2001.

Minimal research is available on the prevalence and impact of complicated grief (CG) in military service members and veterans, despite high reported rates of loss in this population. The present study aimed to examine prevalence rates of CG in a sample of treatment-seeking military service and members and veterans who served after September 11, 2001. Additionally, the study aimed to examine characteristics associated with CG as well as the association between CG and quality of life.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Military-Connected Families: The Relevance of a Family-Centered Approach.

Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, military service in the United States has been linked to a range of behavioral health and physical injuries in a significant number of the almost three million service members who have returned from wartime deployment. These injuries have occurred in the larger context of wartime military service, which is characterized by an array of stressors that have been associated with increased risk for behavioral health problems not only for service members but also for their family members. For the past 15 years, military-connected (defined as active-duty, reserve component, and veteran) family members have shared their own experiences of military service, including multiple deployments in the context of danger, high operational stress within their communities, and living with the physical and behavioral health injuries and ongoing care needs of a loved one.

Examining the Relationship Between Parent and Child Psychopathology in Treatment-Seeking Veterans.

This study aimed to examine: (1) the relationship between parental psychopathology and child psychopathology in military families and (2) parenting sense of competence as a mediator of the relationship between veteran psychopathology and child psychopathology. As part of their standard clinical evaluations, 215 treatment-seeking veterans who reported having a child between the ages of 4 and 17 were assessed for psychopathology (posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and stress), their sense of competence as a parent, and their child's psychopathology (internalizing, externalizing, and attentional symptoms). A path analysis model examining parenting sense of competence as a mediator of the relationship between veteran psychopathology and child psychopathology showed significant indirect effects of veteran depression on all child psychopathology outcomes via parenting sense of competence.

Staying Strong With Schools: A Civilian School-Based Intervention to Promote Resilience for Military-Connected Children.

Since September 11, 2001, over 2 million U.S. service members have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, resulting in hundreds of thousands of military-connected children (MCC) having experienced a parental deployment.