Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services· 2026Q2
The Views, Perceptions, and Understandings of Military Children in Relation to Their Family and Social Experiences: A Scoping Review
- 1citations
- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
A scoping review of 22 qualitative studies reveals military children's perspectives on negative emotions, social connections, and isolation, offering insights for social work policy and practice.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Military children's perspectives on their experiences are under-researched.
- A review of 22 qualitative studies identified themes of negative emotions, social connections, and isolation.
- Children's views on deployment, relocation, and parental mental illness are significant.
- Findings can inform social work policy and practice for military families.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Military children, although a vulnerable population, have received only limited research attention that considers their voices and perspectives, despite their capacity to provide valuable viewpoints from their own direct experiences of life in a military family. This article presents findings from a scoping review of qualitative peer-reviewed literature regarding military children’s views, perceptions, and understandings of their family and social experiences. Searches in 6 databases yielded 922 studies, of which 22 met the inclusion criteria. Three main themes were generated from the findings: negative emotional responses; supportive and unsupportive connections; and loneliness and isolation. Military children had important perspectives on their experiences of military life including deployment, relocations, and parental mental illness. They offer many insights that can be translated into social work policy and practice with military children and their families.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Families in Society The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Clinical Psychology
Clinical PsychologyPsychology