UH Hilo researchers conducting study on the effects of military deployment on families

The project is to better understand the effects of stress on military families.

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By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo are working on a study about stress. The study is in the last year of a three-year project examining the effects of deployment on military families.

The research is part of a three-site collaborative study conducted by UH Hilo (ʻOhana Heroes Project), University of Central Florida (UCF Military Families Program), and the University of Houston (Family Separation Study). UH Hilo’s share of the $2.7 million Defense Department grant is a half-million dollars and includes collaborative research with UH Mānoa.

The study is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Defense Health Agency, and is managed by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.

“The ultimate goal of this project is to better understand the effects of military deployment on family functioning in order to develop and guide support programs for these families,” says Charmaine Higa-McMillan, an associate professor of psychology at UH Hilo and a co-investigator of the study who is heading the Hawaiʻi site. “Parental deployment creates significant stress for both the deployed parent and the family left behind.”

• Learn more about Higa-McMillan’s research: Charmaine Higa-McMillan, psychology: Examines evidence-based practices for youth mental health.

At this stage of the ʻOhana Heroes research, Higa-McMillan and her Hawaiʻi research team are currently interviewing families with a currently deployed parent—mostly families stationed at one of the military bases on Oʻahu—and non-military families going through a recent (less than one year) separation or divorce.

“We have 112 families who have already participated in the study and we are looking to recruit approximately 44 more,” says Higa-McMillan.

Participating families are asked to complete interviews with study staff and self-report questionnaires. Non-invasive physical measures of stress (salivary cortisol and movement watches) also are obtained over the course of one week.

The ʻOhana Heroes Project

Parental deployment creates significant stress for both the deployed parent and the family left behind. Approximately 815,354 active duty troops have family responsibilities and 613,997 have children, according to a Defense Department study.

Research examining the effects of deployment on youth mental health has shown inconsistent findings due to measurement limitations, poor methodology, reliance on exclusively self or parental reports, and lack of appropriate control groups.

But the ʻOhana Heroes study is different.

One of the most interesting components of the study is the use of both psychological and biological markers of stress. This includes not only self-reporting but also the measurement of cortisol levels and sleep quality (through the use of movement watches worn on the wrist)—biological functions that can be more accurately measured and analyzed than subjective self-reporting.

This study also is unique in a number of ways. It compares five groups: 1) families with a deployed parent, 2) families with no deployed parents, 3) divorced or separated civilian families, 4) intact civilian families, and 5) civilian families deployed for work related reasons. This is being done in order to isolate the effects of military deployment as distinct from the effects of parental separation for other, non-military-deployment reasons.

This also is the first study to consider the role of non-deployed parental stress upon child adjustment.

The researchers say this multi-faceted assessment, that looks at both psychosocial adjustment and biological symptoms of stress of both the parent and the child, is necessary in order to develop appropriate prevention programs and to prevent the onset of more serious psychological disorders.

“With this information we hope to develop prevention and intervention programs to target the unique challenges these (military) families are experiencing,” says Higa-McMillan.

Outcomes

The researchers have not yet looked at their results but hypothesize that children of deployed military personnel will exhibit greater levels of psychological symptoms, a greater frequency of stressful behavior and more functional impairment than children of non-deployed parents, divorced or separated parents and two parent families (the control groups).

They also posit non-deployed parents with a deployed spouse will experience greater psychological distress, more stressful behaviors, and greater stressful parenting than the control groups. Further, they think parental emotional stress, psychological symptoms, and perceptions of stressful parenting may predict a child’s response to stress.

“Should we document the presence of significant stress and functional impairment, we will develop an early intervention/prevention program that is based on the identified problems and be in a unique position to immediately begin a clinical trial,” say the researchers in written materials about the study.

The researchers

Higa-McMillan’s research staff includes Amelia Kotte, a postdoctoral fellow and project coordinator for the Oʻahu study site, and Katrina Ramsey, project coordinator for the Hilo site.

Janelle Au, project assessor, and several undergraduate research assistants who receive directed studies research credits towards their psychology major, are also working on the project.

Principal investigator of this multisite grant is Professor of Psychology Deborah Beidel at the University of Central Florida. Co-investigator along with Higa-McMillan is Associate Professor of Psychology Candice Alfano at the University of Houston.

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Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.