Ever since the 1978 article by LaGrone, researchers haveraised concerns about the high incidence of psychopathol-ogy found among children in military families. In fact,LaGrone argued that increased behavioral problems are asymptom of the “military family syndrome” (i.e., familiesin which fathers are authoritarian, mothers are depressedor overprotective, and children are out of control).

Some have argued that children in military familiesexhibit more behavioral problems than children in civilianfamilies (e.g., Cantwell, 1974; LaGrone, 1978; Werkman,

1992). Others maintain that military children exhibitsimilar or lower rates of conduct disorders and behavioralproblems than their civilian peers (Jensen et al., 1991;Morrison, 1981; White, 1976). Previous estimates of theprevalence of psychopathology of children in militaryfamilies range from 1% to 35% (Cantwell, 1974; seeJensen et al., 1991; Morrison, 1981). The variability inprevious estimates of psychopathology among militarychildren may exist because children have been recruitedfrom a number of settings (including children receivingmental health services and children of deployed and non-deployed parents). Also, studies have used differentmethods to classify psychiatric disturbance.

In a study of 213 six- to twelve-year-old children inArmy families, Jensen and colleagues (1991) found thatmothers’ ratings of children’s internalizing and external-izing behavior on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)(Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1983) were lower than for aclinical sample, but significantly higher than nationalnorms. Mothers also rated their own life stress as higherthan national norms. Jensen and colleagues (1991) con-cluded that parents’ reports of their children’s symptomsmay be mediated by life stress, but that children in mili-

Accepted November 2, 2000.Dr. Kelley is Professor, Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University,

Norfolk, VA. Dr. Hock is Professor, Department of Human Development andFamily Sciences and Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Columbus. The other authorsare former students at Old Dominion University.

The United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, DAMD17-96-1-6300, supported this work as part of the Defense Women’s Health ResearchProject. The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this manuscript are thoseof the authors and should not be construed as official or as reflecting the views of theDepartment of Defense. The authors thank Patricia Thomas, Commander AnnO’Connor, Cathy G. Cooke, and the participants for their assistance.

Reprint requests to Dr. Kelley, Department of Psychology, Old DominionUniversity, Norfolk, VA 23529-0267; e-mail: mkelley@odu.edu.

0890-8567/01/4004-0464�2001 by the American Academy of Childand Adolescent Psychiatry.

Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior of ChildrenWith Enlisted Navy Mothers Experiencing

Military-Induced Separation

MICHELLE L. KELLEY, PH.D., ELLEN HOCK, PH.D., KATHLEEN M. SMITH, B.S., MELINDA S. JARVIS, M.S.,JENNIFER F. BONNEY, M.S., AND MONICA A. GAFFNEY, M.S.

ABSTRACTObjectives: To examine whether children with Navy mothers exhibit higher levels of internalizing and externalizing behavior

than children in civilian families and whether deployment affects children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior. Method:Navy mothers who experienced deployment completed a measure assessing children’s internalizing and externalizing

behavior before and after a deployment (and at similar intervals for the Navy and civilian comparison groups). Data collection

took place between 1996 and 1998. Results: Navy children with deployed mothers exhibited higher levels of internalizing

behavior than children with nondeployed Navy mothers. Navy children whose mothers experienced deployment were more

likely to exhibit clinical levels of internalizing behavior than Navy children with nondeployed mothers or civilian children.Group

differences, however, were modest and overall mean scores were in the normal range. Conclusions: Findings do not sug-

gest greater pathology in children of Navy mothers; however, findings do indicate we should be particularly attentive of

deployed mothers and their children. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2001, 40(4):464–471. Key Words: maternal

deployment, child behavior.

464 J . AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001

tary families did not exhibit significantly higher levels ofpsychopathology than civilian children.

Clearly, children in military families experience uniquestressors throughout the course of their parents’ militaryservice, including periodic separations, fear of parentalinjury or loss of life, and geographic moves (see Amenet al., 1988; Black, 1993; Ender, 2000; Jensen and Shaw,1996; Norwood et al., 1996). The degree to which chil-dren experience these stressors varies. For instance, Navyservice requires alternating ship and shore assignmentsthroughout the course of military service. Ship assignmentinvolves cycles of departure, absence, and return known asdeployments that typically last 5 or 6 months at a time.

Cognitive and behavioral changes accompany longperiods of separation both for military spouses and chil-dren (e.g., Jensen et al., 1986; see Norwood et al., 1996).Specifically, a cyclic pattern of depressive behavior hasbeen demonstrated in Navy wives (e.g., Beckman et al.,1979; Kelley, 1994; Nice, 1983) and school-age militarychildren (Kelley, 1994), with higher levels of depressivemood and behavior reported prior to and during thedeployment period than after deployment. Childrenwith deployed fathers appear to develop acute reactionsto deployment (e.g., see Jensen et al., 1991, 1996; Kelley,1994; Kelley et al., 1994; Rosen et al., 1993). For themost part, however, children’s internalizing and external-izing behavior falls within normal limits (see Jensenet al., 1996; Kelley, 1994).

Previous research examining the effects of deploymenthas focused on traditional families in which the fatherwas the sole military member and children were school-age. However, younger children (defined for the presentstudy as aged 5 years or younger) may have less cognitivecapability to understand deployment. Thus, youngerchildren may not exhibit the cyclic patterns of changes inresponse to deployment that have been identified in pre-vious research.

In addition, women now comprise more than 13% ofall active-duty Navy personnel (more than 50,000 Navypersonnel are women) and more than 20% of all newrecruits (U.S. Department of Defense, 1999). Applewhiteand Mays (1996) conducted the first study of maternallyversus paternally separated children in Army families.They concluded that children (aged 4 to 18 years) whoexperienced maternal separation were not more adverselyaffected than children who experienced paternal sep-aration; however, their conclusions were based on retro-spective reports of children’s first extended separations.

One theoretical construct that appears to have majorimplications for the study of periodic separations is that ofattachment theory (e.g., Bowlby, 1969). According toBowlby, the attachment figure serves as a secure base fromwhich the infant feels safe to explore and master the envi-ronment. Confidence in the availability of attachmentfigures, or lack of such confidence, is acquired slowly dur-ing the infancy and childhood years (see Feeney andNoller, 1996). A major requirement for the developmentof a secure mother–child attachment relationship is theconsistent availability of a warm, responsive caregiver.Specifically, the role of the attachment figure is to be sen-sitive, available, and responsive to the child and to providecomfort and safety in times of stress and danger. Duringdeployment the Navy mother is unable to fulfill her roleas the primary attachment figure. These separations oftenoccur when children are young, and even short sep-arations account for a significant part of a young child’slife. On the basis of previous research (see Sroufe et al.,1999) we may expect that very young children experienc-ing extended periods of separation from their mothersmay experience anxiety, withdrawal, and anger.

The purpose of this study was to compare the behaviorof children of enlisted Navy mothers with the behavior ofchildren in civilian families. Enlisted active-duty Navymothers completed measures of child behavior before andafter a military-induced separation. Navy mothers assignedto shore duty, whose children served as a nondeployingcomparison group, completed the same measures at sim-ilar time intervals as did the mothers of civilian children.In addition, child care providers of Navy children alsocompleted a measure of children’s behavior at similar inter-vals. The following research questions were examined: (1)Compared with a sample of children from nonmilitaryfamilies and normative data, do very young children inmilitary families display higher levels of internalizing andexternalizing behavior? (2) Do children with deployedmothers exhibit higher levels of internalizing and external-izing behavior than children whose Navy mothers are notdeployed? (3) To what extent does the point in the deploy-ment cycle (predeployment versus postdeployment) influ-ence child behavior?

METHOD

Recruitment of Navy Mothers

A commander who served as the point of contact at the Atlantic FleetCommand identified ships with mixed-gender crews stationed in the

MATERNAL DEPLOYMENT AND CHILD BEHAVIOR

J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001 465

Hampton Roads, Virginia, area that were scheduled to deploy, as well asfour shore commands with mixed-gender crews. A senior officer at eachof these commands was contacted by the point of contact or the firstauthor and informed of the study. Prior to scheduled data-collectionvisits, members of the administrative office crew generated a list offemale personnel with young children. These crew members attended abriefing in which the first author explained the general purpose of thestudy (i.e., to examine the effects of shipboard assignment on femalepersonnel and their families) and answered questions about the study.

Women who did not attend the briefing were contacted individuallyby the first author or informed of the study by administrative person-nel at the command. Two additional methods were used for identifyingnondeploying Navy mothers. A letter was sent home with active-dutymilitary mothers with very young children attending a day-care centerthat serves military families, and an advertisement was placed in a localNavy newspaper. Individuals responding to the letter or advertisementcalled the first author directly.

Seventy-one of 83 women who were assigned to a participating shipand met the study criteria agreed to participate. Final data, however,were incomplete for 6 women. Also, 11 women did not participate atthe final assessment because they no longer qualified for the study.Specifically, they did not deploy because of family emergencies (n = 6),pregnancy (n = 1), or unexpected transfers (n = 4). Also, 2 women re-fused to participate at the final assessment.

Fifty-five of 76 women assigned to one of the participating shoreduty commands, who met the criteria, agreed to participate. Eighteenof 27 women who called in response to the advertisement and 10 of13 women whose children attended the day-care center and who metthe study criteria agreed to participate. Data were incomplete for 3women. In addition, 5 women did not complete the final assessmentbecause of unexpected transfers (n = 3) or they refused to participate(n = 2). Participation rates did not differ between the sea and shoreduty groups.

Final Navy Sample. Navy mothers were divided into a deploymentgroup (n = 52; defined as facing a military-induced separation in thenext 60 days) and nondeploying control group (n = 75). Women inthe deployment group were recruited from one of five destroyers, twocarriers, two oilers, two amphibious ships, or a salvage ship. Ships rep-resented all but one ship with mixed-gender crews that deployed fromthe summer of 1996 to the winter of 1998.

Mean age of the Navy mothers was = 27.9 years (SD = 5.1 years;range = 20–47 years). Forty-nine percent (n = 62) were married, 24%(n = 30) were single, 10% (n = 13) were separated, 11% (n = 14) weredivorced, 5% (n = 6) were cohabiting, and 1% (n = 2) were widowed.Forty-two percent (n = 53) held a general equivalency diploma, homeschooling certificate, or high school degree; 50% (n = 64) had takensome college courses; and 7% (n = 10) held bachelor’s degrees. Fifty-seven percent of the Navy mothers were white, 32% were African-American, 4% were Hispanic, 1% were Pacific Islander, and 6%reported racial/ethnic identity other than one of these categories. Timein the military ranged from 5 months to 19.6 years (mean = 7.7 years;SD = 4.2 years). The military rank of most participants was E-3, E-4,or E-5 (range = E-1 to E-8). The Navy sample appears representative ofNavy mothers in the larger population (see Thomas and Thomas,1991). Women in the two groups did not differ in maternal education,racial/ethnic background, marital status, or time in the military.However, on average, women in the deploying group were 2 yearsolder (mean = 29.7 years, SD = 5.1) than women in the nondeployinggroup (mean = 26.6, SD = 4.8) and had been in the Navy approx-imately 2 years longer (mean = 9.1 years, SD = 3.7) than women in thenondeploying group (mean = 6.8 years, SD = 4.5). Also, while theaverage rank for women in both groups was E-4, the deploying group

represented a slightly higher rank (mean = 4.9) than the nondeployinggroup (mean = 4.4).

The majority of Navy women had one child (75 of 127 = 59.1%);however, women with more than one child were asked to answer thequestions with their youngest child in mind. At the time of the initialassessment, the mean age of the target child was 3.1 years (SD = 1.8years; range = 8 months to 8.0 years). Eighty percent of the targetchildren were 1, 2, or 3 years of age. There were 64 boys and 63 girls.

Civilian Comparison Sample. For the purposes of comparison,CBCL scores from 32 civilian children were obtained from a study ofemployed, working-class mothers living in central Ohio. Women wererecruited from both private and public women’s health clinics, obstet-rical practices, pediatric offices, and parenting classes. Mean age of themothers was 28.4 years (SD = 4.1 years; range = 19–37 years). Forty-seven percent (n = 15) of the mothers of civilian children had com-pleted a high school degree, 44% (n = 14) had taken some collegecourses, and 9% (n = 3) had bachelor’s or professional degrees.Seventy-two percent of the civilian mothers were white and 28% wereAfrican-American. Children in the civilian sample were approx-imately 21⁄2 years of age at the initial assessment and were assessedtwice, approximately 1 year apart. There were 16 boys and 16 girls.

The civilian and Navy samples did not differ significantly in level ofmaternal education and age or in child gender. Although the majorityof women in both samples were white (72% of civilian and 57% ofNavy women), there was greater racial/ethnic diversity among theNavy mothers (χ2

8 = 21.4, p < .01). Children of women who deployedwere approximately 1 year older than children of women in the non-deploying Navy group or the civilian group (M[deployment] = 3.5years; M[nondeploying Navy controls] = 2.4 years; M[civilian] = 2.6years; F2,156 = 13.9, p < .01).

The background characteristics of Navy mothers whose child careproviders did and did not complete the CBCL ratings were examined.The two groups did not differ in level of maternal education and ageor in child gender. However, if the mother was white, child care pro-viders were more likely to have completed the CBCL ratings (χ2

1 =13.0, p < .01).

Measures

To examine perceptions of children’s behavior, mothers completedthe CBCL 2/3 twice (Achenbach, 1992). For children 4 years of age andolder (approximately 20% of the Navy sample), mothers completed theCBCL 4–18 (Achenbach, 1991; Achenbach and Edelbrock, 1983). TheCBCL 2/3 is a 99-item questionnaire; the CBCL 4–18 a 113-item ques-tionnaire. Each item is scored on a 3-point scale from “not at all true ofchild” to “very true of child.” Both the CBCL 2/3 and the CBCL 4–18provide indices of children’s internalizing (i.e., fearful, sad, overcon-trolled) and externalizing (i.e., aggressive, noncompliant, undercon-trolled) behavior. Test-retest reliability has been reported to be high overboth short- and long-term periods (see Achenbach and Edelbrock,1983) and validity has been established in civilian (e.g., see Lowe, 1998)and military children (e.g., Jensen et al., 1996; Kelley, 1994). T scores,reflecting internalizing and externalizing behaviors that have been cor-rected for child age and gender, were used in all statistical analyses.

Child care providers of children of Navy mothers completed theCBCL 2/3 (or for children older than 4 years of age, the CBCL 4–18).On average, child care providers had cared for children 12.5 months(SD = 12.7 months; range = less than 1 month to 5.0 years) at the ini-tial assessment. Child care was met in a number of ways: baby-sitter(48%), child care center (34%), or relative (18%). For the analysesthat follow, data were used from only those child care providers whocompleted the CBCL at both the initial and final assessments andwhose Navy mothers had completed the CBCL at both assessments.

KELLEY ET AL.

466 J . AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001

Thus, data were available on 98 of the 127 Navy children whosemothers completed the CBCL twice.

Procedure

Data Collection for Navy Sample. Data collection for Navy womenin the deployment group took place at predeployment (approximately3–6 weeks before the deployment) and postdeployment (approx-imately 3–6 weeks after the deployment ended). The majority ofwomen (83%) experienced a 5- or 6-month deployment (ninewomen completed a slightly shorter deployment). Participants wereinterviewed by one of four female students in psychology who servedas research assistants. Navy mothers completed the CBCL 8 to 9months apart. With the exception of a few mothers who were inter-viewed on base after duty hours, participants were administered thestandardized questionnaire in their homes. Child care providers ofNavy children were mailed the questionnaire along with a prestampedenvelope and asked to return the questionnaire within 1 week.

Data Collection for Civilian Sample. Civilian mothers were inter-viewed individually and administered the standardized question-naires twice (approximately 1 year apart) at a developmental researchlaboratory.

RESULTS

Overview

We compared CBCL data across the three groups (Navychildren with deployed mothers, Navy children with non-deployed mothers, and children with civilian mothers) intwo ways. First, we compared the mean T scores acrossgroups. Second, we categorized children’s T scores as in theclinical or nonclinical range and then compared the num-ber of children with clinical and nonclinical scores acrossgroups.

Next, we examined CBCL data for children in Navyfamilies only. We believed that comparing Navy childrenwhose mothers experienced deployment to a group of chil-dren whose Navy mothers did not experience deploymentduring the same time period would provide for a clearerunderstanding of the effects of deployment. In addition,CBCL data were available from child care providers ofNavy children. We believed that child care providers couldprovide an important and presumably objective evaluationof the child.

Comparison of CBCL Mean T Scores of Children ofDeployed Navy Mothers, Children of Nondeployed NavyMothers, and Children of Civilian Mothers

Mothers completed the CBCL twice (several monthsapart); however, paired-samples t tests revealed that CBCLT scores did not differ as a function of time for any of thethree groups (deployment, nondeploying Navy controls,civilian controls). Because children whose mothers expe-

rienced deployment were approximately 1 year older thanchildren in the Navy and civilian control groups, child agewas treated as a covariate in all analyses that follow. Twoone-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were con-ducted to examine whether children’s internalizing andexternalizing T scores differed as a function of group.Because the main effects approached significance (both pvalues = .05), follow-up t tests were conducted. Follow-uptwo-tailed t tests revealed that children with deployedmothers exhibited significantly higher levels of internal-izing behavior than Navy children with nondeployedmothers (t125 = 2.4, p < .05). In addition, civilian childrenexhibited lower levels of externalizing behavior than chil-dren with Navy mothers who did not experience deploy-ment (t105 2.5, p < .05). Means for internalizing andexternalizing behavior collapsed across time were 48.8 and50.3 for the children with deployed mothers, 46.0 and51.2 for children with mothers assigned to shore duty, and48.0 and 47.5 for children in the civilian control group,respectively.

Clinical Levels of Behavior by Group (Children of DeployedNavy Mothers, Children of Nondeployed Navy Mothers,and Civilian Controls)

As a second method of examining differences betweenNavy and civilian children’s behavior, CBCL scores weredummy-coded. Specifically, children received two scores.The first score reflected whether the child’s mean inter-nalizing T score was in the normal (coded as 1) or clinicalrange (coded as 2); the second score reflected whether thechild’s mean externalizing T score was in the normal(coded as 1) or clinical range (coded as 2). Because amain effect of time did not occur, mothers’ ratings ofchildren’s internalizing and externalizing across time werecollapsed for these comparisons. Two χ2 analyses wereperformed to determine whether differences existed inthe percentage of children in each group (children withdeployed Navy mothers, children with nondeployedNavy mothers, civilian children) whose scores were in the“clinical” range (defined by Achenbach as a T score of 60or greater). A significant difference was found betweengroups for internalizing behavior (Fisher exact p < .05).Specifically, 12% (6 of 52) of the children with deployedNavy mothers had mean internalizing T scores in theclinical range, whereas 1% (1 of 75) of children withnondeployed Navy mothers and 3% (1 of 32) children inthe civilian control group exhibited mean scores in theclinical range. The number of children exhibiting clinical

MATERNAL DEPLOYMENT AND CHILD BEHAVIOR

J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001 467

KELLEY ET AL.

468 J . AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001

levels of externalizing behavior did not differ significantlybetween groups.

Comparison of Navy Children’s Behavior by Condition(Children of Deployed Navy Mothers/Children ofNondeployed Navy Mothers) Across Time

We performed repeated-measures ANCOVAs wherecondition (deployment versus nondeployment) was abetween-subjects factor, time (first rating versus secondrating) was a within-subjects factor, and child age wastreated as a covariate. Children of deploying mothershad higher levels of internalizing behavior than childrenin the nondeploying Navy sample (M[deployment] =48.8; M[nondeploying Navy control] = 46.0). Childcare providers reported that children whose mothersexperienced deployment had higher levels of internaliz-ing and externalizing behavior than children whosemothers did not experience deployment (M[deploy-ment] = 50.3; M[nondeploying control group] = 46.4)(M[deployment] = 52.1; M[nondeploying controlgroup] = 48.4). These means are for internalizing andexternalizing behavior, respectively. The interaction andmain effect of time were not significant (Table 1).

We also correlated the number of days mothersreported being away from their children in the previousyear with their reports of child symptoms. Correlationswere conducted on both time 1 and time 2 information(i.e., the number of days away from the child in the pre-vious year as reported at the initial interview and maternalreports of children’s internalizing and externalizing behav-ior at time 1 and the number of days away from the childin the previous year as reported at the final interview andmaternal reports of child symptoms at time 2). Therewere modest correlations between the number of daysaway from the child in the previous year and reports ofinternalizing behavior (r127 = 0.17, p = .057, and r127 =0.23, p < .01, respectively). Time away from the child wasnot correlated with mothers’ reports of children’s external-izing behavior.

DISCUSSION

Behavior of Children of Deployed Mothers and Children ofCivilian and Nondeployed Navy Mothers

Children with Navy mothers had slightly higher levelsof externalizing behavior than our comparison sample of

TABLE 1Meansa and Standard Deviations for Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior

Predeployment Postdeployment

Nondeploying NondeployingDeployment Control Deployment Control

Respondent Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Fb

MotherInternalizing 48.7 (7.3) 46.6 (8.2) 48.9 (8.2) 45.4 (7.3)

Time 1.6Condition 5.5*Time � condition 0.1

Externalizing 51.6 (7.5) 51.2 (7.8) 50.8 (8.1) 50.3 (8.5)Time 0.1Condition 0.4Time � condition 0.6

Child care providerInternalizing 51.0 (11.3) 46.7 (11.0) 49.6 (11.0) 46.1 (11.0)

Time 0.3Condition 5.2*Time � condition 0.0

Externalizing 51.5 (10.4) 47.6 (10.3) 52.7 (11.3) 49.1 (12.8)Time 0.2Condition 4.7*Time � condition 0.2

a The means reported are unadjusted for child age.b The F statistics are calculated from the analysis of covariance model in which child age served as a covariate.* p < .05.

civilian controls. The mean levels of internalizing behav-ior did not differ between groups. When data were con-verted to clinical versus nonclinical coding, morechildren whose mothers experienced deployment werelikely to have scores in the clinical range than either theNavy or civilian control groups.

Children of Deployed and Nondeployed Military Mothers

Navy mothers and their child care providers reportedthat children whose mothers experienced deploymentexhibited higher levels of internalizing behavior than chil-dren with mothers who were assigned to shore duty duringthe same time period. Similar to recent research on school-age children with parents deployed during OperationsDesert Shield/Desert Storm (see Jensen et al., 1996; Rosenet al., 1993), our findings suggest that very young childrenwith deployed parents may be susceptible to anxiety andsadness. Because both deployed Navy mothers and theirchild care providers reported this pattern, cognitive distor-tion on the part of the mother appears to be an unlikelyexplanation.

In addition, child care providers (but not Navy mothers)reported that children of mothers in the deploymentgroup exhibited slightly higher levels of externalizingbehavior. It is difficult to determine why differences inexternalizing behavior were not reported by the twogroups of Navy mothers. It is possible that the oppor-tunity to observe child–child interactions may be greaterfor child care providers than for mothers, or children withdeployed parents may exhibit better behavior at homethan while not in the home. In addition, crew membersmust often work long hours with little leave time in theweeks and months preceding deployment. Thus, mothersin the deployment group may have had less opportunityto observe child behavior. Also, it is important to notethat mothers’ mean CBCL scores for externalizing behav-ior are similar to those reported by child care providers.

Our findings only partially support predictions basedon attachment theory. That is, more children whosemothers experienced deployment exhibited clinical levelsof anxiety, withdrawal, anger, and noncompliance thandid children whose mothers did not experience separation.Thus, for a small number of children, periodic extendedseparations from primary caregivers may result in morechild behavior that is defined as clinically significant. Atthe same time, pre-post differences were not found, andthe main effects of group were modest. Clearly, additionalresearch is needed to determine whether there are long-

term effects of extended separations on child behavior andthe impact that periodic separation has on mother–childattachment.

For the most part, findings are similar to previousresearch. That is, findings indicate that the majority ofvery young children with Navy mothers exhibit levels ofinternalizing and externalizing behavior within normallimits (see Jensen et al., 1991; Kelley, 1994; Morrison,1981; White, 1976). However, similar to research in tradi-tional military families in which the father is the militarymember (e.g., Jensen et al., 1996; Kelley, 1994; Rosenet al., 1993), children appear susceptible to increasedlevels of sadness and anxiety during the deploymentperiod (e.g., Kelley, 1994).

Although previous research has identified a cyclic pat-tern of behavior in children with Navy fathers who expe-rienced a 6-month deployment (i.e., children exhibitedhigher levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviorprior to deployment which decreased over time), in thepresent study, children’s behavior was stable over time.There are several possible explanations for these findings.This difference may be due to the fact that children in thepresent study were younger than children examined inprevious research. For instance, the behavior of school-agechildren with deployed parents may be expected toimprove over time as they realize that their parents willreturn (and in many cases children realize their parentswill not experience another lengthy work-related sep-aration for some time). Thus, our findings suggest that thedevelopmental level of very young children may prohibittheir understanding of causality, time, or explanationsregarding their mothers’ return or future deployments.Moreover, lengthy separations may have greater implica-tions for young children who have less ability to cope withextended separations, and for military mothers and theirfamilies because military mothers generally have youngerchildren when they deploy.

In addition, deployments often require short mini-cruises prior to the long-term separation. Although aschool-age child may understand that these brief sep-arations were in preparation for the deployment (i.e., inessence part of the deployment), a very young child maytreat each of these separations independently. That is, theyounger child is continually adjusting to the parent’sabsence. In addition, across groups, mothers’ reports oftime away from their children in the previous year weremodestly associated with mothers’ ratings of children’sinternalizing behavior. Clearly, an issue for future research

MATERNAL DEPLOYMENT AND CHILD BEHAVIOR

J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001 469

is the degree to which repeated separations (often occur-ring during ship assignment) affect children’s behavior.

As Navy children get older, presumably they havelearned strategies for coping with periodic parental sep-arations. In addition, some degree of self-selection maytake place. That is, families unable to cope with the vicis-situdes of military life may choose to leave the military.

Limitations

Although civilian and military children appear similarin many respects, children with deployed Navy motherswere approximately 1 year older than children in the civil-ian or Navy control group. In part, this may reflect the factthat some Navy women choose to delay childbirth untilassigned to shore duty so that by the time they are reas-signed to a ship, their children are older. Although theremay be reasons for these age differences, the difference inchild age between the deploying and control groups is alimitation of the present study.

Related to this issue, women in the deploying groupwere slightly older and had been in the military approx-imately 2 years longer than women in the nondeployinggroup. Future research should examine whether mater-nal characteristics and other differences between deploy-ing and nondeploying women affect child adjustment toseparation.

Although the majority of children in all groups were 1,2, or 3 years of age at the initial assessment, children’sages ranged from infancy to school-age. Thus it is impor-tant to recognize that not all children were in the samestage of development.

Child care providers differed in the nature of their rela-tionship to the child, the length of time they had cared forthe child, and the degree to which they were able toobserve children’s interactions with their peers. All of thesefactors may have affected perceptions of child behavior.

In addition, the civilian sample was drawn from a dif-ferent geographic location and recruited differently thanthe Navy samples. Because the majority of Navy mothershad been assigned to the area where the study took place(they were from many different areas of the country andmany women would eventually be transferred elsewhere),an ideal civilian comparison sample would be difficult toobtain. Nevertheless, we cannot be assured that the Navyand civilian samples are actually comparable.

Studies are needed that examine the cumulative effectsof deployment. It is not known whether children developlong-term sequelae to parental separation.

Clinical Implications

Overall, our findings suggest that deployment has onlysmall effects on most children. Thus our data do not sug-gest higher psychopathology in Navy children withdeployed mothers. At the same time, a subset of childrenappeared more vulnerable to the effects of deployment.

It is important to note that during their mother’sabsence, children of single mothers often resided withfamily members who did not live in the area where thestudy took place. The degree to which continuity of caremay affect children’s behavior is an important issue toaddress in future research. Also, caregivers need to be edu-cated so that they are able to recognize behaviors in veryyoung children that may indicate difficulty. Moreover,services need to be available and easily accessible forfamily members not residing in an area with military sup-port services. In addition, military and civilian mentalhealth professionals need to offer additional support forfamilies in which the military member is experiencingrepeated separations.

Although our study focused on the effects of military-induced separation, it is important to realize that an in-creasing number of women have jobs that require frequentcorporate travel. In 1998, three of four women betweenthe ages of 20 and 54 were in the labor force (U.S. Depart-ment of Labor, 1999). Little research, however, has exam-ined the impact of work-related travel on family life. It isdifficult to know whether these findings generalize towork-related separations in civilian mothers. This is animportant avenue for future research.

Similar to the private sector, the military force mustincreasingly rely on women, single parents, and dual mili-tary couples. Thus, comprehensive family programs thatrecognize changes in military families, including theincreasing diversity of service members, are necessary tomaintain combat readiness and to continue to recruit andretain highly skilled military personnel.

REFERENCES

Achenbach TM (1991), Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and RevisedChild Behavior Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department ofPsychiatry

Achenbach TM (1992), Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist/2–3 and 1992Profile. Burlington: University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry

Achenbach TM, Edelbrock CS (1983), Manual for the Child Behavior Check-list and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington: University Associates inPsychiatry

Amen DJ, Jellen L, Merves E, Lee RE (1988), Minimizing the impact ofdeployment on military children: stages, current preventive efforts, andsystem recommendations. Mil Med 153:441–446

KELLEY ET AL.

470 J . AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001

MATERNAL DEPLOYMENT AND CHILD BEHAVIOR

J. AM. ACAD. CHILD ADOLESC. PSYCHIATRY, 40 :4 , APRIL 2001 471

Applewhite LW, Mays RA (1996), Parent–child separation: a comparison ofmaternally and paternally separated children in military families. ChildAdolesc Soc Work J 13:23–39

Beckman K, Marsella AJ, Finney R (1979), Depression in the wives of nuclearsubmarine personnel. Am J Psychiatry 136:524–526

Black W (1993), Military-induced family separation: a stress reduction inter-vention. Soc Work 38:273–280

Bowlby J (1969), Attachment and Loss, Vol 1: Attachment. London: HogarthCantwell DP (1974), Prevalence of psychiatric disorder in a pediatric clinic

for military dependent children. J Pediatr 85:711–714Ender MG (2000), Beyond adolescence: the experiences of adult children of

military parents. In: The Military Family: A Practice Guide for HumanService Providers, Martin J, Rosen L, Sparacino L, eds. Westport, CT:Praeger, pp 241–255

Feeney J, Noller P (1996), Adult Attachment. Thousand Oaks, CA: SageJensen PS, Lewis RL, Xenakis SN (1986), The military family in review: con-

text, risk, prevention. J Am Acad Child Psychol 25:225–234Jensen PS, Martin D, Watanabe HK (1996), Children’s response to parental

separation during Operation Desert Storm. J Am Acad Child AdolescPsychiatry 35:433–441

Jensen PS, Shaw JA (1996), The effects of war and parental deployment uponchildren and adolescents. In: Emotional Aftermath of the Persian Gulf War:Veterans, Families, Communities, and Nations, Ursano RJ, Norwood, AE,eds. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, pp 83–109

Jensen PS, Xenakis SN, Wolf P, Bain MW (1991), The “military family syn-drome” revisited: “by the numbers.” J Nerv Ment Dis 179:102–107

Kelley ML (1994), Military-induced separation in relation to maternal adjust-ment and children’s behavior. Mil Psychol 6:163–178

Kelley ML, Herzog-Simmer PA, Harris MA (1994), Effects of military-induced separation on the parenting stress and family functioning ofdeploying mothers. Mil Psychol 6:125–138

LaGrone DA (1978), The military family syndrome. Am J Psychiatry135:1040–1043

Lowe LA (1998), Using the Child Behavior Checklist in assessing conductdisorder: issues of reliability and validity. Res Soc Work Pract 8:286–301

Morrison J (1981), Rethinking the military family syndrome. Am J Psychiatry138:354–357

Nice DS (1983), The course of depressive affect in Navy wives during familyseparation. Mil Med 148:341–343

Norwood AE, Fullerton CS, Hagen KP (1996), Those left behind: militaryfamilies. In: Emotional Aftermath of the Persian Gulf War: Veterans,Families, Communities, and Nations, Ursano RJ, Norwood, AE, eds.Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, pp 163–196

Rosen LN, Teitelbaum JM, Westhuis DJ (1993), Stressors, stress mediators,and emotional well-being among spouses of soldiers deployed to thePersian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. J Appl Soc Psychol23:1587–1593

Sroufe LA, Carlson EA, Levy, AK, Egeland B (1999), Implications of attach-ment theory for developmental psychopathology. Dev Psychopathol 11:1–13

Thomas MD, Thomas PJ (1991), Population statistics: Navy parents andchildren (Technical Report NPRDC-TN-92-4). San Diego, CA: NavyPersonnel Research and Development Center

US Department of Defense (1999), Women in the Navy. Available at www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/women/wintop/html. Accessed March 31, 1999

US Department of Labor (1999), Facts on Working Women: US Department ofLabor—Women’s Bureau. Available at www.dol.gov/dol/wb/pub-lic/wb_pubs/fact98.htm. Accessed March 1999

Werkman S (1992), Resolved: military family life is hazardous to the mentalhealth of children. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31:984–987

White JH (1976), An analysis of first-year referrals to a new military childpsychiatry clinic. US Navy Med 67:18–21