Deployment Status and Child Neglect Types in the U.S. Army

Area of Science:

• Military and Family Health
• Child Welfare Studies
• Sociology of the Military

Background:

• Combat deployments are linked to increased child neglect in U.S. military families.
• The relationship between deployment status and specific child neglect types is not well understood.
• Parental substance misuse may also influence child neglect risk in military families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between service member deployment status and specific types of child neglect.
• To examine the role of parental substance misuse in child neglect risk within military families.
• To identify if deployment status influences specific neglect subtypes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 390 substantiated U.S. Army child neglect case files.
• Examination of deployment status (concurrently deployed, previously deployed, never deployed) at the time of neglect.
• Assessment of parental alcohol or drug misuse, controlling for family rank and child age.

Main Results:

• Concurrent deployment was associated with higher risk of physical neglect, lack of supervision, and educational neglect.
• Concurrent deployment showed a lower risk for emotional neglect.
• Previous deployment increased risk for moral-legal neglect.
• Substance misuse independently increased risk for moral-legal and educational neglect.

Conclusions:

• Deployment status is associated with specific types of child neglect in military families.
• Parental substance misuse is an additional risk factor for certain neglect types.
• Prevention strategies should be tailored to different phases of the deployment cycle.