Adolescent difficulties during parental deployment and anxiety: A focus on measurement and family processes

Sherman, H., O’Neal, C. W., Tidwell, A., & Lucier-Greer, M. (2023). Adolescent difficulties during parental deployment and anxiety: A focus on measurement and family processes. Child & Family Social Work, 28(4), 1110-1120. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.13030

This study examined the relationship between adolescent difficulties during a parent’s deployment and their subsequent anxiety symptoms during reintegration. Soldier fathers and civilian mothers from 204 Army families each reported their adolescent child’s difficulties during deployment and their anxiety symptoms during reintegration; adolescents also reported their own anxiety symptoms. As a first step, this study investigated whether parents reported similarly on their adolescent’s difficulties during deployment. Both parents’ (i.e., Service member fathers and civilian mothers) reports of adolescent difficulties during deployment were linked to their perceptions of adolescent anxiety symptoms during reintegration. Although parents reported similarly on their adolescent’s difficulties during deployment, these reports were not linked to the other parent’s or their adolescent’s report of anxiety symptoms during reintegration.

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