Study: Soldiers’ Kids More Vulnerable to Abuse During and Right After Deployment

Infants and toddlers of soldiers are at greater risk for abuse during deployment and in the six months after the service member returns home, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia reviewed substantiated abuse reports and medical diagnoses for 112,325 children younger than two of Army soldiers deployed between 2001 and 2007. Children up to 24 months old are considered most vulnerable to severe injury and death resulting from abuse.

The data showed that infants and toddlers of soldiers who deployed once were at the greatest risk for “maltreatment” in the six months after the service member returned home; the children of soldiers deployed twice were most vulnerable to abuse during the soldier’s second tour of duty. Maltreatment was defined in the study as physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect.

“Many of the perpetrators identified in our study cohort were not soldiers themselves, suggesting that a soldier-only response is not enough to reduce risk for families,” the study said. In the abuse reports used for the study, the abuser was the child’s non-soldier caregiver in 88 percent of the cases filed during the service member’s deployment. The solider was listed as the perpetrator in 55 percent, on average, of cases occurring during periods of non-deployment.

For soldiers deployed twice, the rate of abuse for their children 24 months and younger nearly doubled during the second deployment compared to the first tour, according to the study.

The risk of greater child abuse post-deployment for some soldiers indicates “elevated stress within families when a soldier reintegrates after the first deployment,” the study said, adding that the high-risk period during the six months after deployment was “previously unidentified” in research.

The study’s authors said many factors contribute to an increased risk of abuse, including behavior and mood changes in kids as a result of separation and the difficulty returning soldiers might have dealing with those changes when they come home.

Researchers used case reports from the Defense Department’s Family Advocacy Program and TRICARE medical records for the study. Defense offers many services to support service members and their families, including parenting classes, counseling and domestic abuse prevention outreach.

(Image via Anchiy / Shutterstock.com)