Poster Session 1: Military Family Life and Well-Being

Presenters: Evin Richardson, Catherine O'Neal, Jay Mancini

Summary
Military families often experience unique challenges related to military life, such as deployments of service members to combat zones, frequent transitions, and other long-term separations. Consequences of these challenges often extend to the children in the home. The current study examines how military adolescent characteristics (i.e., age, gender, race) are associated with well-being outcomes (i.e., school engagement, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and self-efficacy). Further, we examine how support from an adolescent-identified family member and non-family member mediates these associations. Results suggest that the characteristics of military adolescents are associated with various aspects of well-being (i.e., school engagement, depressive symptoms, and self-efficacy), controlling for military contextual factors (e.g., parent rank). Moreover, social support from a family member and non-family member explains, to some degree, these associations.

Objectives
-- To identify the individuals (family and non-family) that military adolescents turn to for support.
-- To examine the associations between military adolescent demographic characteristics and well-being outcomes.
-- To examine the potential mediating effects of family and non-family social support for the associations between military adolescent demographic characteristics and well-being outcomes.

Subject Codes: well-being
Population Codes: adolescence, military family
Method and Approach Codes: structural equation modeling (SEM), mediation/indirect effects models