Parental military service and adolescent well being: mental health, social connections and coping among youth in the USA
The association between parental military work factors and adolescent's well being was examined. Data were collected from 1036 military youth. Using a within group design, we examined adolescent's well being related to parental absence, school and neighbourhood transitions, paygrade/rank and participation in military sponsored activities, and differentiated outcomes by sex and age. Two parental work factors primarily influenced adolescent's well being, parental paygrade/rank and engagement in military sponsored activities. Parental paygrade/rank was the only factor uniformly related to poorer well being, and this variable likely represents a more complex set of family circumstances. Engaging in military sponsored activities served as a resource and was related to enhanced well being. Individual level differences and implications for social workers are discussed.