Health and Mental Health Outcomes Associated with Profiles of Risk and Resilience among Military-Connected Youth



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although many military families appear to cope effectively with stressors associated with wartime military service, mounting empirical evidence has suggested that a sizeable subset of military-connected children are experiencing adverse outcomes, including increased rates of physical and mental health problems, substance use, and suicidality. These outcomes are a public health concern because of their long-term consequences for healthy, positive development. They suggest the need to explore the cumulative impact of stressors and protective factors that may contribute to resilient processes in military families and lead to better outcomes for military youth. This project, a secondary analysis of Army Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) data and linked Department of Defense administrative datasets, will use person-focused statistical models, including latent class analysis, to examine naturally occurring patterns of risk and protective factors in military families. Profiles of risk and protective factors will be associated with role performance and health and mental health outcomes for military spouses, who are critical to the well-being of youth in military families. The cascading effects of spouse outcomes on youth will be incorporated into risk and protective factor profiles associated with role performance and health and mental health outcomes for youth. Data on risk factors, including deployments, family relocations, and financial strain, will be drawn from administrative datasets including the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System and Defense Manpower Data Center. CSF2 data will inform protective factors, including access to social support and positive coping skills. Health and mental health outcomes, available through the Defense Health Agency for all service members and their dependents, will include health care appointments and ICD-9 codes for any diagnoses received. Datasets will be linked through the use of the Person-Event Data Environment, an online portal for analyzing the Army's vast administrative data holdings. Planned analyses will elucidate the collective impact of multiple, concurrent stressors on outcomes for military-connected dependents and may highlight possible points of intervention to improve outcomes for this population. Developing new knowledge in this area addresses program priorities of the Pediatric Trauma and Critical Illness Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, including exploring consequences for child health of exposure to war, violence, and other man-made disasters. Further, the proposed project will provide the applicant with research and training opportunities to develop skills needed to become an independent researcher in a large, research- focused university setting at the next stage of her career.