Abuse and Neglect Increase with Military Deployment

I originally published this post last summer, but this topic is turning up again after studies have shown a dramatic increase in Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and suicide for returning vets from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, thought it would be worth it to revisit this topic:

In a study done by the Journal of the American Medical Association, it has become apparent that documented cases of child neglect and abuse increase when a military parent is deployed for an extended amount of time.

The increase is dramatic - in the case of neglect, a 4x increase in cases is reported, and in the case of physical abuse, twice as high! Two thirds of the cases involved moderate to severe neglect or abuse. Remember - these are only the REPORTED cases - depending on what study you look at, most conservative estimates state that only 10% of child abuse and neglect cases are ever reported.

The question is why - maybe it seems obvious, but is it?

What struggles does the remaining parent have when left behind to tend to the children by him/herself? Depression rates increase, stress levels, suicide attempts and other mental health indicators - it only makes sense that the children are affected in a negative way.

One suggestion is that the children act-up because they miss the missing parent, and that this negative behavior strains the remaining parent to the point of abuse or neglect. Another idea is that, suddenly 'single,' the remaining parent just doesn't have the tools that he or she had with his or her parenting team-mate. Finally, a comment about the army culture in general - here are families in a culture that teaches violence and that violence is a way to solve problems - hmmmm....

The strain on deployed families is dramatic - one way that we can support the troops is to support their families. If you know a mom or dad whose partner is deployed, think about how you can help that parent cope with his or her unwanted single parent status.

Thanks for reading!