Multiple Informant Cluster Analysis Findings: Which Military-Connected Preschool Aged Children Are Doing Well and...

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Military Family Studies
• Resilience Research

Background:

• Understanding social-emotional resilience and risk in young military-connected children is crucial.
• Existing models of resilience in military families provide a framework for this exploration.

Approach:

• Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 199 military-connected families with preschool-age children.
• Empirical identification of two clusters: children with healthy vs. poor social-emotional functioning.
• Analysis of parent-reported and observed data on psychological health, parenting, child behavior, and parent-child relationships.

Key Points:

• Children with healthier social-emotional functioning were in families with lower stress and distress.
• Elevated maternal posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms across all domains were linked to child social-emotional risk.
• Military service characteristics (e.g., deployment history, rank) did not significantly differentiate clusters.

Conclusions:

• Parental psychological wellbeing is a more significant factor than military service characteristics for young child social-emotional risk and resilience.
• Maternal trauma history is a critical consideration for identifying children at social-emotional risk.
• Interventions should prioritize parental wellbeing to support young children in military families.