1. Marked for Life: Young Adults Perspectives on the Impact of Parental Military Deployment
Megan Humlicek
Advisor: Dr. Jeanette Harder
College of Public Affairs and Community Service
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Co-Author: Dr. Maha Younes
University of Nebraska at Kearney

2. Literature Review
Children experienced more emotional and behavioral challenges in military families (Chandra et al., 2010).
Children assumed more parental roles (Truhan, 2015).
Adolescents suffered higher levels of low quality of life, depressed temperament, and suicidal ideations (Reed, Bell, and Edwards, 2011).
Parents often fail to recognize their child’s struggle in coping, which reflects the low service utilization among this population (Flittner et al., 2015).
Most effective service was linking families with military and deployment experiences.
Occupational inheritance was considered a factor in career choice (Roller and Doerries, 2008).

3. Methodology
Participants (n=32) ages who experienced parental military deployment (PMD)
21 Females
11 Males
Recruited through Military and Veteran Services at 22 two and four-year universities
Online Qualtrics Survey
48 questions regarding the following categories:
Coping skills
Personality development
Career choice
Considerations for military parents, service providers, and policymakers
Phone interviews (n=7)

4. Results
Age at deployment: 14 (43.8%) were 5 to 10 years of age, 8 (25.0%) were less than 5, another 8 (25.0%) were 10 to 15, and 2 (6.3%) were 15 to 20 years of age.
Impact on parent-child relationships: 13 (40.6%) negative-somewhat negative impact, 10 (31.3%) noted no impact, and 9 (28.1%) positive-somewhat positive impact.
Coping with PMD: 21 (65.6%) rated coping as fair-fairly well, 7 (21.9%) rated it as very well, and 4 (12.5%) as poor.
Areas of life affected: 24 (75.0%) noted impact on home life, 17 (53.1%) on parent-child relationship, 14 (43.8%) on mental health/emotional well-being, 10 (31.3%) on relationships with other people, and 5 (15.6%) on education/school performance.

5. Results Continued…
Personality development: 16 (50.0%) of the participants described the impact as moderate, 7 (21.9%) as minimal, 6 (18.8%) as somewhat major, 2 (6.3%) reported no impact, and 1 (3.1%) as extreme.
Career choice: 14 (43.7%) reported impact while 18 (56.3%) reported no impact. Only two of the 32 participants selected military services as a career. Despite this outcome, career choice was significantly impacted because of their experience.

6. Discussion
This research demonstrates the imposition that PMD has on children and families. The choice of an individual parent represents sacrifice by the entire family, a compromised parent-child relationship, and a life mark that cannot be undone.
Most helpful to military families was the company of other military families who understood their reality.
Independence, self-reliance, and the importance of family, abandonment, betrayal, and feelings of being unimportant were themes related to personality development as a result of PMD.
Regardless of occupational military inheritance, career choice was based on principles learned through PMD (ex. helping others).

7. Discussion Continued…
No participant reported that they were worse off and 20 (62.5%) believed they were better off .
They advise military families to recognize maladjustment and seek help as needed; advise school systems and communities to be more supportive of military families; and urge policymakers to ensure that benefits and services are made available to veterans and their families.

8. Limitations Primary target on the college population of young adults
Summer timing
More phone interviews
Small sample size

9. Future Research Collaboration with military entities and services
Perspective of former deployed parents and non-deployed parents

10. References
Chandra, A., Lara-Cinisomo, S., Jaycox, L. H., Tanielian, T., Burns, R. M., Ruder, T., & Han, B. (2010). Children on the homefront: The experience of children from military families. Pediatrics, 125(1), doi: /peds
Flittner O’Grady, A. E., MacDermid Wadsworth, S., Willerton, E., Cardin, J., Topp, D., Mustillo, S., & Lester, P. (2015). Help seeking by parents in military families on behalf of their young children. Psychological Services, 12(3), doi: /ser
Reed, S. C., Bell, J. F., & Edwards, T. C. (2011). Adolescent well-being in Washington state military families. American Journal of Public Health, 101(9):
Roller, B., & Doerries, L. E. (2008). Occupational inheritance in service academy cadets and midshipmen. Journal on Educational Psychology, 2(2),
Truhan, T. (2015). Parentification in deployed and non-deployed military families: A preliminary assessment. University of Central Florida Undergraduate Research Journal, 8(1), 1-11.

11. “It is not just the soldiers saving our lives, it is the families
“It is not just the soldiers saving our lives, it is the families!” – Phone Interview Respondent