Psychological Needs of U.S. Military Service Members and Families: A Preliminary Report

700,000 children in America have at least one parent deployed to a war zone. The American Psychological Association's Presidential Task Force produced this report to identify psychological risks and service needs for military members and their families, examining impacts of deployment and barriers to care within DoD and VA systems. It offers recommendations for improving psychological care at provider, practice, program, and policy levels.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the psychological impact of military deployment cycles based on the overview of known effects described in the report.
• Identifying barriers to mental health care access based on the discussion of systemic obstacles within DoD and VA.
• Evaluating existing support program efficacy based on the description of developed mental health programs.
• Informing policy recommendations for military family support based on the outlined proposals for using APA resources.

Strengths

• Report is authored by an authoritative APA Presidential Task Force.
• Focuses on a specific, high-stakes population of U.S. military members and their families.
• Provides a structured analysis covering risks, programs, barriers, and recommendations.

Limitations

• The underlying data (e.g., survey results, clinical records) is not directly accessible; this is a summary report.
• Row count, column definitions, and file formats for any raw data are unknown.
• Last update date is unknown; findings may reflect the context of 2006 and the post-9/11 period.

Provenance

Source

APA Presidential Task Force on Military Deployment Services for Youth, Families and Service Members

Collection Method

Task force analysis and synthesis of existing knowledge, programs, and systems.

Time Range

Context focuses on the period following September 11, 2001, with the task force established in July 2006.

Freshness

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Geography

United States, specifically concerning U.S. military service members and their families.