Parental Military Deployment and Early Child Development 2012

Jacquelyn Jacobson 1

Parental Military Deployment and Early Child Development

Jacquelyn Jacobson

University of Washington, Tacoma

Dr. Michelle Garner

TSOCW 502: Human Behavior in the Social Environment

July 26, 2015


Psychological, social, and emotional development is an ongoing process that is constantly

responding to internal and external pressures throughout the life cycle. In the last decade there

has been a significant increase in the number of children whose development is impacted by

complex family dynamics within the context of military life, more specifically with regards to

parental deployment. To the 2.2 million active-duty service members there are almost 2 million

children, 40% of which are 5 years old and younger (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009).

Negative consequences of a deployed parent in younger children include behavioral problems,

difficulty adjusting to shifting family roles, and separation anxiety (Barker & Berry, 2009).

However, the negative consequences that have been observed in children with a deployed parent

can be mitigated by a strong support-network and is positively related to healthy coping of the

non-deployed parent (Riggs & Riggs, 2011) .

There are clear distinctions between active and reservist service members of the military;

these distinctions are significantly correlated to the needs of the families whose military member

is called to duty. Generally service members who have pursued military life as a career have a

more concentrated immersion in the military culture and have relatively easier access to

community supports and services (Chandra, et al., 2010). In contrast to active service members,

the reservists and their families generally are more isolated from other serving families and have

fewer means to access some of the supports that are most needed in times of transition such as

when a family service member receives notice for deployment (Lemmon & Chartrand, 2009). It

is important for treatment professionals, who work with children who might be members of a

military family, to recognize and make efforts to tune into situations were potential risks for mal-

adjustment show-up in a child’s behavior. In young children maladjustment may be

demonstrated by observed unhappiness, disruption in relationships with peers and conduct

problems such as biting or hitting (Applewhite & Mays, 1996). Lemmon and Chartrand (2009)

would suggest that general practitioners be aware of deployment cycles in their community and

to make an effort to listen to a child’s report of how they are experiencing such transitions

because of the distinct culture that exists within a military setting.

Most current research on the negative effects of deployment on child development is

limited by the methods that are available to measure such outcomes. There is a predominant

tendency to rely on interview/questionnaires administered to the non-deployed parents of these

families who are asked to self-report their experiences and the perceived experiences of their

children (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009). While there have been efforts made to

incorporate the child’s perspectives, even these studies need additional support because the

measures available need to be tested for their external validity (Chandra, et al., 2010).

The strongest recommendations that the current research has made when addressing child

development in a family with a deployed service member is to make sure there are supports

available for the non-deployed caregiver. There have been strong correlations in U.S. and

international studies between the caregiver’s response to deployment and the child’s subsequent

response/adjustment to deployment (Andres & Moelker, 2010; Weinstock, 2012). Suggested

interventions also include arming medical and mental health practitioners with the knowledge

and resources to identify early on the at-risk tendencies for child maladjustment and provide

proactive evidence based interventions and supports (Esposito-Smythers, et al., 2011; Bargeron,

2010).

The ecological systems perspective would view the problem of negative impacts of

deployment on children by looking at the dynamics and relationships that the child has to both

parent/caregivers (deployed and not) in addition to the relationship to the child’s environment;


especially if that child’s parent is not a career service member and therefore living on or near a

base where they child would have more access to a community who understands what they are

going through and resources to help cope with the difficulties of a deployed parent (Flake, Davis,

Johnson, & Middleton, 2009; Esposito-Smythers, et al., 2011). Consistent with the research that

is available, the ecological perspective would suggest interventions as they relate to various

approaches within the child’s systems: support for the non-deployed caregiver, support and

understanding from teachers and the community, introducing children to peers who may also be

going through a deployment in their family.

Another theoretical perspective that has implications related to the problem of

deployments affect on children is the developmental theory on human behavior. Developmental

theory evaluates a person’s situation within the context of time and relative to factors that may

have impacted their development at previous stages in the life course. This theory is significant

for preventive implications as it relates to the impacts of child development and parental

deployment. Erickson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development identify basic trust versus mistrust

as a significant milestone that occurs between birth and 12 months of age and autonomy or

initiative versus guilt or shame between 12 and 36 months of age (Hutchinson, 2011). If a child

does not develop health outcomes during these milestones there may be significant issue later on

in life. The potentially traumatic separation that happens when a child’s parent is intermittently

absent from the family dynamic have been shown to have negative effects on the child’s

psychosocial and emotional development (Flake, Davis, Johnson, & Middleton, 2009). Knowing

that there are real developmental consequences of deployment is so that early interventions can

be established. The best interventions currently available are related to the non-deployed parent

and coping tools to increase accessibility of and communications with the deployed parent

(Riggs & Riggs, 2011). Military families were previously taught that “if a child was too young to

understand deployment they were too young to be affected by it” this idea has since been

challenged by research but is important to note because as a child may begin to display behaviors

of maladjustment parents, teachers, social workers, and treatment professionals can use

developmental theory to more clearly identify and intervene on triggered events (Bargeron,

2010).

Case Study

On November 24, 2012 I interviewed Michelle Carvallo regarding her observations of

her son Jose’s development and the impact on her family of having a deployed spouse. Michelle

is a 26 year old Caucasian female and her husband, Alejandro is a 26 year old Hispanic male;

they have been married since 2008 and their son Jose will be 4 years old in April 2013. The

interview was conducted at the Woodinville King County Library and lasted just under three

hours. Upon arrival to the library Michelle and Jose quickly unloaded their “gear” at the table

where she and I would be talking and Jose confidently went straight to the children’s section and

settled in without any direction from his mother. Because of the holiday weekend Michelle and

Jose had multiple bags with them as they were staying with various family members throughout

King and Snohomish County before flying to Hawaii, where Alejandro is currently stationed.

Michelle and Alejandro recently purchased a home in Roy, Washington which they hope to settle

into together once he is reassigned back to Washington sometime in the Spring of 2013.

We discussed Jose’s development from birth to present within the context of his father’s

deployment phases: pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment/reunification. Jose was

born in April 2009 and Alejandro’s first deployment was from September 2009-August 2010 and

his second deployment was in January 2012 to present; with each deployment Alejandro did


have temporary returns home about halfway through which lasted about two weeks at a time.

With both the first and second deployments Michelle noted that Jose could recognize his father

but did not realize he was gone, for deployment, until he returned from the extended absence.

Consistent with his developmental stage Jose exhibited separation anxiety after Alejandro’s

temporary return home in April 2010. Between 8 and 12 months of age infants start to develop

object permanence, when they start to understand that objects or people exist even when they

can’t see them; this new awareness leads to separation anxiety because “infants begin to

remember previous separations and recognize the signs of an impending separation”

(Hutchinson, 2011). Fortunately the Carrillo’s have a strong support network of friends and

family concentrated within close proximity to one another. Michelle is actively involved in her

church congregation and she frequently seeks out peers for Jose to interact and play with whether

they are children of other family members or friends.

Through the first few years of development (birth to four years) children go through a

plethora of milestones as they relate to various types of development including, but not limited

to: physical, emotional, social and cognitive. According to currently available research a parent’s

deployment can negatively impact young children, as measured by reported behavioral problems,

an increase in clingy attachment at reunion, and an inconsistent sense of self as roles and family

dynamics change relative to the behaviors of children without a deployed parent (Barker &

Berry, 2009). Research also indicates that positive outcomes related to parental deployment are

correlated with a strong support network, a well adjusted non-deployed parent, and additional

coping factors such as maintaining a “psychological presence” of the deployed parent (Riggs &

Riggs, 2011). A psychological presence is when the family maintains consistent roles and

expectations regardless of physical presence. Families may seek out means to maintain these

boundaries with assistive tools and technology. Michelle reported that to maintain Alejandro’s

psychological presence she and Jose Skype or message him regularly, Jose has a story book with

a vocal recording of his father reading the story and Jose has a “daddy doll” which is a soldier

doll with a picture of Alejandro in the facial area. After the Carrillo’s first post-deployment

phase, in August 2010, Michelle began to notice some maladjustment or behavioral problems

exhibited by Jose. After his father returned home Jose began to act out more aggressive play with

other kids, he had an increase incidence of hitting behaviors for about six months after

Alejandro’s return home and he behaved especially clingy whenever either of his parents would

leave the room. While these behaviors dissipated over time they recurred again in 2012 when

Alejandro left for his second deployment and occurred during the deployment phase where as

earlier it only occurred in the post-deployment phase.

From my observations of Jose in the time that we were at the library I was very

impressed with his independence and well-mannered behavior. When they first arrived Jose

politely greeted me and seemed to be aware of appropriate behavior for the environment. He was

familiar with the computer and resources in the children’s area and settled in independently.

Throughout the interview Jose came over two times, once because he needed to go to the

bathroom and the other because he needed help wiping his nose. When Michelle and I were done

with our interview and we were packing up Jose was very engaging and proceeded to tell me

about his girlfriend Sophie, how he was going to his Nana’s house later that day and how much

fun he had with Grandpa Mark over the Thanksgiving holiday. Physically he seems taller than

other kids his age, Michelle confirmed that relative to other 3-4 year olds Jose plays with he is

often the biggest. With regards to Jose’s emotional health Michelle said that he outwardly

expresses how he feels by stating “my heart hurts”, “I’m angry”, or “I’m happy”. Both Michelle


and Jose appear to have healthy identities related to career-military life; when asked about the

challenges related to having an active-duty spouse Michelle replied that “this is what she signed

up for” and that when people ask Jose if he is sad about his dad being gone he simply replies that

“Dad is working”.

Michelle described Jose’s strengths as his strong orientation to family, caring nature, and

understanding of roles and authority. Around 12 months old, Jose started developing strong

language skills in both English and Spanish; right around the time he turned three years old, four

to six months after Alejandro’s second deployment, Jose developed a rapid stutter where “it was

like his mouth couldn’t keep up with his mind” and then within a month the stutter slowed down

and it was as if Jose was trying to be more thoughtful in his cognitions but wasn’t able to

articulate those ideas effectively.

When faced with a particularly frustrating situation Jose is usually able to cope using

auditory stimulation, by being removed from the stressful situation and given music to listen to.

With regards to stress as it relates to Alejandro’s deployment, Jose will take initiative to send his

dad a message via text, email, or Skype when he is especially missing him. He has a few

comforting tools like his “daddy doll” and story books that have his dad’s recorded voice that

make him seem not as absent. In addition to the stress of having an absent parent because of

deployment, there is also stress as it relates to moving around between different homes, Hawaii

where Alejandro is stationed and Washington where the rest of the family lives. According to

Michelle, Jose adjusts to the transition between environments relatively quickly but there are

periods of adjustment as Jose becomes familiar with the new set-up. Because of the

inconsistency of having an active-duty deployed parent Jose’s development seems to be

inconsistent in the sense that he has hit developmental milestone relatively early when compared

to his peers but he has periods where he retreats, developmentally, and may not maintain a

particular milestone achievement.

The information obtained from my case study of the Carvallo family dynamic and Jose’s

development is consistent with the current literature available on the subject of the affects of

military deployment and early childhood development. Much of the research looks at the impact

on behavioral development and what factors may contribute to or mitigate negative outcomes.

Healthy attachment to family, positive expressed behaviors and developmentally positive social

interactions at the stages of development between birth and three years are at risk of negative

outcomes if the child and non-deployed parent lack a strong support network of friends, family,

and support services (Chandra, Martin, Hawkins, & Richardson, 2010). While Jose does

occasionally exhibit problem behaviors Michelle indicated, consistent with my observations, that

Jose behaves appropriately in public and that negative behaviors exhibited at home may be

because Jose is more comfortable at home and thus more likely to act out because of the stress of

not having his dad around. Michelle appears to have a strong sense of self and healthy coping

related to the deployment of her spouse; she seeks out support from her friends and family and

has a generally positive affect.

Examining individual outcomes of those experiencing a deployed parent or spouse is

most effectively done when looking at the situation within the ecological systems perspective.

Both the risk and protective factors for the outcomes related to deployment have implications

and interventions throughout an individual’s ecological system. Whether a child experiences a

positive or negative outcome related to parental deployment can be affected by the individual

parent-child relationship, family dynamics with extended friend and family support, community

network with other military families who are also experiencing deployment, and resources in the


military network to help the non-deployed parent cope financially, psychologically or otherwise.

It is important in Social Work practice to recognize the various dynamics impacting an

individual and provide service considerate to the inherent complexities of human behavior.


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Parental Military Deployment and Early Child Development 2012

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