How deployment affects families

Researchers consider family-based risk and resilience models

2013-04-18

(Press-News.org) Approximately 2 million children in the United States have at least one parent deployed in military service; 750,000 of those children are 5 years old and younger. Deployment can disrupt children's well-being and development due to its impact on the care children receive, the destabilization of daily routines, and the effect on soldiers' physical and psychological health upon returning home. Research has indicated that for some children, separation during deployment contributes to heightened levels of behavioral problems, psychiatric difficulties, and poor school performance.

At a symposium during the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, researchers will address the effect of parents' deployment on children. Using risk and resilience models, they will identify the critical role of families in influencing how children's adjustment is affected.

Among the questions that will be addressed: What is the relationship between parents' deployment and children's well being, considering not only children's mental health but also the influence of the deployment on children's ability to achieve developmental tasks that form the foundation for later adjustment success? What role do combat-related injuries play and how do such stressors affect children's and families' well-being? What are the most effective ways to treat post-deployment family struggles that affect young children? The symposium will also include a discussion with a member of the military who will speak to the relevance of this research, efforts to support military families, and the public policy and treatment implications of this work.

### The symposium will take place in the Washington Convention Center, Room 630, on Thursday, April 18, 2013, from 2:20 to 3:50 p.m.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Preventing obesity in young children

2013-04-18

More than 12 percent of preschoolers are obese, which means they have a body mass index above the 95th percentile. Among Black and Hispanic children, the figure rises to 16 percent. These early growth patterns often continue through childhood and adolescence, increasing children's health risks, which can affect almost every system in the body, from cardiovascular to mental health. Childhood obesity often occurs in the context of family obesity. Evidence has shown that interventions that address families' dietary choices, mealtime behaviors, and patterns of physical activity ...

Social media, social kids

2013-04-18

Screen time has changed dramatically in the 21st century. Although most people still watch television and work on computers, social forms of media are expanding rapidly, in part due to the growth of the Internet and cellular networks. These interactive and social media include social networking sites, online video sharing, virtual worlds, mobile phones, and video chat. Starting as early as ages 1 or 2, many children start using these tools, increasing the likelihood that social media will influence the development of social skills, interpersonal dynamics, and social-emotional ...

Brain-behavior associations

2013-04-18

Brains develop in the context of experience. Social experiences may be particularly relevant for developing neural circuits related to the experience of feeling or emotion. Factors such as negative life events and the quality of relationships may be especially influential. Adolescence is a key time to investigate how early social experiences contribute to brain development because it's a period of dramatic changes in brain function, brain structure, and social context, and it's when many psychiatric disorders first appear. But few studies have addressed this important ...

Early learning from educational media

2013-04-18

Early mental and intellectual stimulation is important for subsequent learning. What role do electronic media play in this process? New studies are providing rigorous examinations of whether educational medial with certain features promote early learning. The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) will host a symposium during its Biennial Meeting that brings together researchers to consider educational media and early learning in global contexts. Among the questions that will be addressed: Can interactive media characters affect 18-month-olds' early learning ...

Effects of Arizona's immigration law on Latino youth and families

2013-04-18

In 2010, Arizona passed an immigration law (S.B. 1070, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act) that gave state police unprecedented power to detain individuals unable to prove their U.S. citizenship when asked. At a symposium during the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), researchers will examine the effect of the law on the health and well-being of Latino youth and families. Nearly 30 percent of Arizonans self-identify as Hispanic or of Latino origin, according to Census data. In the United States, Latinos constitute ...

New stem cell-based screen reveals promising drug for Lou Gehrig's disease

2013-04-18

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a fatal disease that causes motor neurons, which are responsible for controlling muscles, to die. A study published by Cell Press on April 18th in Cell Stem Cell has revealed a novel stem-cell-based approach to screen for effective treatments, which are sorely lacking. Applying this method to motor neurons derived from stem cells taken from an ALS mouse model and human patients, the researchers discovered a promising compound that promotes the survival of motor neurons, paving the way for better treatments ...

Production of toxic protein causes common neurodegenerative disorder

2013-04-18

Researchers have recently discovered that an expansion of DNA in patients with the common neurodegenerative disorder Fragile X-associated Tremor syndrome causes the production of an abnormal protein that is toxic to neurons. The findings, which are reported online April 18 in the Cell Press journal Neuron, suggest an unexpected process by which DNA expansions might lead to neurodegenerative diseases—including Huntington's disease and ALS. This discovery reveals a common feature among these diseases that could be targeted to treat affected individuals. The length of this ...

Learned helplessness in flies and the roots of depression

2013-04-18

When faced with impossible circumstances beyond their control, animals, including humans, often hunker down as they develop sleep or eating disorders, ulcers, and other physical manifestations of depression. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 18 show that the same kind of thing happens to flies. The study is a step toward understanding the biological basis for depression and presents a new way for testing antidepressant drugs, the researchers say. The discovery of such symptoms in an insect shows that the roots of depression ...

Mayo Clinic researchers discover that stem cell senescence drives aging

2013-04-18

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Declining levels of the protein BubR1 occur when both people and animals age, and contribute to cell senescence or deterioration, weight loss, muscle wasting and cataracts. Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that adult progenitor or stem cells -- important for repair and regeneration of skeletal muscle and maintenance of healthy fat tissue -- are subject to cellular senescence, and that clearance of these cells limits age-related deterioration of these tissues. The findings appear today online in the journal Cell Reports. BubR1 is an essential part ...

Why does smallpox vaccine shield some, not others? It's in the genes, Mayo finds

2013-04-18

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- How well people are protected by the smallpox vaccine depends on more than the quality of the vaccination: individual genes can alter their response, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings, gathered using sophisticated genomic screening, appear in today's online issue of the journal Genes and Immunity. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Video of Dr. Poland is available on the Mayo Clinic News Network. "We were looking into the intercellular reactions that occur when vaccinated and unvaccinated persons are exposed to and infected with smallpox virus. We were able ...

How deployment affects families

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: