Children of Parents deployed can cope with risks of mental health

 children whose parents are deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq face a higher risk of psychiatric problems requiring hospitalization, a new study indicates.

Researchers at the University of the Uniformed Services of the Health Sciences have followed more than 375,000 children, ages 9 to 17, whose parents are in active service between 2007 and 2009.

"There was a risk of 10% increased hospitalization in aged 9 to 17 children whose parents have been deployed,", said Dr. Jeffrey Millegan, disaster and fellow preventive Psychiatry at the University of the Health Sciences Uniformed Services.

He presented the findings this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in Honolulu.

In all, researchers have discovered that the child provided for in the study have been hospitalized for a mental or behavioral health problem, remain a median of eight days.

Of this, approximately one third, or 858 children had parents who have been deployed during the period of study.

After taking into account factors such as history of psychiatric problems, Millegan arrived at the risk of 10% increased. When he looked at length relatives of deployment, he found the selected link only when the parent has spent six months plu.

More attention must be paid to the mental health of children of military parents of active service when they are deployed, the researchers said.

What can do parents to reduce the impact? While the research of resilience is still in its infancy, Millegan suggests that family physicians should ask the parents to be deployment how do their children.

Parents and other persons who are aware of the risk, said, can better catch mental health problems when they are less serious than those requiring hospitalization.

The study was considered novel by Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, Chairman of the Board of the American Psychiatric Association on Communications, who hosted the Monday press conference announcing the findings.

"There really was no this kind of research to date on the effect on children," he said. Previous research linked the parent deployment to war with increased anxiety and behavioural problems in their children.

Borenstein said the conclusion on the length of the deployment with an effect on the mental health of the child is of particular interest. With more research, he said, the number of times that that a parent is deployed would probably considered have an effect, too.

For now, he said, the research may help to inform the persons concerned and awaken their for attempting to minimize the risk.

Millegan also concluded that the children with a history of mental health problems were more likely to have again. Psychiatric history of the civilian parent also affected the risk of the child of hospitalization for mental health problems.

Increased mental health problems, said Millegan, are likely related to obvious family disturbance that occurs when a primary care provider for a period of time.

Further research revealed that mental health problems can affect the deployed parent and which parent stays home, suggesting it could be a trickle-down effect. "It is quite clear that [mental health problems encountered by parents] may have an influence on children," he said.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, data should be considered preliminary until published in a refereed journal.