Research on U.S. Military families confirms danger of sole custody to children
The closest study to mothers suddenly being given sole custody of children in a divorce was in the 01 August 2007 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was based upon information collected from two large Army databases from 2001 through 2004. According to a JAMA press release ( http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2007j/0731.dtl#1 ) Deborah A. Gibbs, M.S.P.H., and colleagues of RTI International, Research Triangle Park, N.C. analyzed information of parents who were left to take care of their children after the other parent was deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Previous studies have always relied upon haphazard medical reporting or voluntary survey responses. The United States Military has stated that “children going through deployment may experience many of the same effects as children of divorce“. This corollary to divorce makes the study of military families vital to the best interest of children whose parents are going through divorce. No other study has previously been able to replicate the effects of either parent suddenly being removed from the child’s life in a controlled situation like this. The methods used in this study are much more reliable than those that have previously been used in other research. Unlike in civilian life, military families can be required to consent to certain reporting requirements and evaluations. Also, unlike in civilian life, the military provides support services to families or the mother as is the case in this situation regardless of financial means. The report indicated that mothers were three times more likely to have a substantiated report of child mistreatment when their Soldier husbands were deployed than when the fathers were home. Mothers at home were nearly four times as likely to neglect their children and nearly twice as likely to physically abuse them during deployment periods. Only families with at least one report of child mistreatment were part of the analysis, so the findings apply only to those with some underlying risk. Experts cautioned that situations not generally considered neglect by most city child welfare workers would be called neglect by Army social workers. This makes the study more akin to the general population since the military’s underlying qualification of some prior neglect would not be considered such in the civilian world. One of the most significant findings was that the fathers left at home while their Soldier wives were at war had an insignificant effect on the likelihood of abuse or neglect of the children although there was an increase. Child advocates have long claimed that children need both parents involved in their upbringing but that if sole custody was necessary then men possessed the coping skills necessary to provide for their well-being. Army officials said the study confirms what they've seen at large military bases for nearly two years, overwhelmed and depressed mothers neglecting their children. Additional information is available in this story on the Military.com website. Judges now need to realize the importance of having both a mother and father involved in the child's life as this study has confirmed.