A Scoping Review of the Effects of Military Deployment on Reserve Component Children

There are more than half a million military Reserve Component (RC) connected children but little research that has examined the effects of parental deployment on this population. Much of what is known comes from active duty families. There is a need to better understand the effects of RC parental deployment on children and families. This scoping review examined the current literature on the impact of parental deployment in RC families. We used the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) to guide the search, data charting, synthesis, and review. We searched PubMed, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Social Work Abstracts databases for relevant articles published in English on impact of parental deployment on military connected children. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria out of the total 1393 studies identified in our search. These studies were all conducted in the USA, and years of publication ranged between 2002 and 2017. Findings were classified into four themes, namely, role changes for non-deployed parents, behavior changes in children, child anxiety and fear, and support networks. Knowing if deployment impacts RC children and families differently from active duty families will guide development of appropriate policy and programs that better support them during periods of prolonged active duty service and to enhance recruitment and retention. Therefore, further research is needed to identify and develop interventions to address problems highlighted in our themes including, behavioral problems in children, child anxiety and fear, and role changes for the non-deployed parents/children, and support networks.