(Online Course) Outline The Impact of Deployment and Combat Stress on Families and Children, Part 1

Course Outline:
Please note: This course is no longer available. This page is maintained for archival purposes only.

1. Introduction
2. Demographic Characteristics of Service members and their families
   
   • General demographics
   • Dual military marriages
   • Single parents
   • Age of Active Component (AC) spouses
   • Age of children
   • Reserve Component (RC) vs. Active Duty
   • Implications for RC families
   • Demographics of Service members who recently deployed
3. General and deployment related stressors
   
   • Stressors and challenges for military families
   • Moving
   • Marital satisfaction
   • Military specific demands
4. Summary of research findings: risk and resiliency
   
   • Risk and resiliency for military families throughout deployment
   • What do we know about children and deployment?
     
     1. Do previous findings generalize?
     2. Impact of the Global War on Terror on Children
5. The deployment cycle
   
   • Pre-deployment phase – notification, preparation and training.
     1. Pre-deployment stressors
     2. Emotional responses of family members pre-deployment
   • Deployment Phase: departure, sustainment, combat and conflict
     
     1. Service member experience
     2. Combat experience and family separation
     3. Deployment stressors for spouse
     4. Deployment stressors for children and adolescents
        • Warning signs children/adolescents may exhibit
     5. Other issues during deployment
        • Financial
        • Communication
        • Length of deployment
   • Post-deployment: homecoming and reunion
     
     1. Post-deployment stressors
     2. Common stressors for Service member
        • Common reactions post-deployment
        • Change in mindset
     3. Reserve Component Service members
     4. Changes for family
     5. Spouse’s reactions
     6. Realities for children/adolescents
        • Common responses for infants, children and adolescents
   • Child maltreatment/Domestic Violence and deployment
6. Reintegration with wounded warriors and death of a Service member
   
   • Severely combat-injured Service member
     1. Service member’s reactions
     2. Spouse’s reactions
     3. Impact of parental injury on children
        • Injury communication to children
     4. Helping the injured family
   • Psychiatric injury
     
     1. Percent of Service members screening positive
     2. Family problems and OIF/OEF Veterans with psychiatric symptoms
     3. PTSD and the family
        • Parenting and PTSD
     4. Assessing and treating families
   • Death of a Service member
     
     1. Death of a spouse
     2. Death of a parent