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Abt Associates Team to Assess Impact of War Zone Deployment on Mental Health and Functioning of Military Families

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 10:04 CDT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army Medical Research Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, Maryland, has awarded Abt Associates a 4-year, $5 million contract to study the effects of the war zone deployment of U.S. military service members on the mental health and related outcomes of their spouses and family members.

In recent decades, mental health and related outcomes for U.S. military service members following war zone deployment have been documented for many conflicts, beginning with Vietnam and continuing through the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, much less attention has been given to the effect of service member deployment on spouses, children and other family members who are left behind.

Stresses associated with service member deployment can have important consequences for their family members, particularly when tours are long and multiple deployments are required. Family member functioning can be degraded by separation and associated worries, and service member functioning is degraded when concern over events at home reduces ability to concentrate and be vigilant. In addition, war zone stress exposure has been shown to have substantial impact on service members after they return home, which can produce additional stressors for both the service members and their families when they are re-united. Post-deployment stress also erodes readiness for future deployment.

"This is the first time the effects of deployment stress and war related post traumatic stress on spouses and the families of service members will be carefully examined," said Dr. Scott Royal, Division Vice President for Domestic Health at Abt Associates. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many deployed service members family problems are a significant source of stress during and after deployment. However, many service members and their families demonstrate resilience in the face of such adverse circumstances. The findings of the research will provide a scientifically sound foundation for understanding the relationship among multiple factors related to family member functioning and family dynamics."

The study seeks to address both risk and resilience factors associated with the process of post-deployment adjustment for family members. The Abt Associates team, which includes collaborators from the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, and the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, will conduct a community epidemiologic study of mental health and other outcomes for a probability sample of spouses and children of deployed military service members. To increase confidence in the findings, the study will also examine spouses of non-deployed service members, which will provide a comparison and context for interpreting the outcomes for spouses of the deployed.

"The findings will provide an important evidence base for the development of specific interventions aimed at reducing deployment-related stress and increasing family member resilience, thus improving force readiness, retention of service members, and the well-being of services members and their families," said Dr. Royal.

Abt Associates, an employee-owned company, applies scientific research, technical assistance, survey, and consulting expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues; international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex business problems. Founded in 1965, the company provides services to U.S. federal, state and local governments; universities and foundations; media; and major corporations. In fiscal year 2009, the company had revenue of $264 million. Its staff of over 1,300 is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Massachusetts (Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions, Inc.); New York, New York (Abt SRBI); and in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

SOURCE Abt Associates

Source: PR Newswire

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