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Military and Veteran Families

Children of military and veteran families experience unique challenges related to military life and culture. These include deployment-related stresses such as parental separation, family reunification, and reintegration; disruption of relationships with friends and neighbors due to frequent moves; and adaptation to new schools and new community resources. Added to this, some children face the trauma of a parent returning home from combat with injuries or illness; others must face their parent's death. Research indicates that although most military children are healthy and resilient and have positive outcomes, certain deployment stresses put some groups at risk: young children; children with preexisting health and mental health problems; children whose parents serve in the National Guard, are reserve personnel, or have had multiple deployments; children who do not live close to military communities; children who live in places with limited resources; children in single-parent families with that parent deployed; and children in dual-military parent families with one or both parents deployed.

NCTSN Resources

The following resources on Military and Veteran Families were developed by the NCTSN.