Analysis of specific psychosocial stress experienced by children of members of the German Armed Forces, in particular during deployments abroad, and identification of prevention and intervention strategies

Children of soldiers, children of members of the armed forces, psychosocial stress, resilience, increased risk, prevention and intervention options, mental health

Bundeswehr Hospital Berlin - Psychotrauma Centre/Centre for Psychiatry and Psychotraumatology

01.01.2016–31.12.2017

Parental psychological stress is a risk factor for children to develop mental disorders themselves. Due to their profession, soldiers are hardly comparable with other occupational groups in Germany today in terms of their stress profile and their experiences. In particular, the experience of foreign deployments in crisis and war zones are experiences that other parents in Germany do not have to go through, and therefore neither do their children.

The aim of the pilot project is to analyse the living conditions of children from Bundeswehr families. This includes special challenges and demands, the development of strengths and special needs or wishes. Furthermore, an inventory of existing intervention and prevention programmes and the support needs of military families will be carried out.

The pilot project consists of a systematic review and analysis of existing international study results, which will be analysed and transferred to the German health and social care system. To carry out the pilot project, 18 qualitative interviews were conducted with the children, the soldiers and their partners. Families with a parent who works exclusively at home, who has been deployed abroad or who has a deployment-related mental disorder were selected for this purpose. Ten telephone interviews were also conducted with various experts from the Bundeswehr's psychosocial network to ascertain the support situation. At the end of the project, an interdisciplinary expert panel will discuss the extent to which specific needs or care requirements exist for children from Bundeswehr families, both within the care setting that the Bundeswehr provides for families and within the framework of the standard care provided by the health and youth welfare system.

in progress