Children of Deployed Parents More Likely to Experience Psychiatric Hospitalization

Children of military service members are more likely to be hospitalized for a psychiatric condition when a parent has been deployed, according to a new study presented at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting.

The research was scheduled for presentation in a press briefing Monday, May 16, at the 164th American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, which is in Honolulu May 14-18

Researchers looked at records for nearly 380,000 children ages 9 to 17 years of active duty military personnel. The children’s data was linked to the parent’s deployment records.

The odds of psychiatric hospitalization increased by 10 percent among children age 9 to 17 years when a military parent was deployed, according to the study. The odds of hospitalization increased with increasing length of a parent’s deployment.

Details of this study, along with five other new research studies, will be presented at a press briefing from the APA Annual Meeting. Members of the media can attend in Room 307 of the Hawaii Convention Center at 8 am Hawaii time, Monday, May 16, or participate online at 11 AM PDT/2 pm EDT by registering at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/341505819.

The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and research of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at http://www.psych.org/ and http://www.healthyminds.org/.