Military Pathways uses BSAD to check up on military teens mental health
Kids! I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today! These song lyrics, written in the 1960’s, humorously describe the communication breakdown between teenagers and their parents. But all kidding aside, the journey to adulthood can be rocky especially for military teens that face parental deployments and constant moves. So how can military parents tell if their adolescent is experiencing normal growing pains or something more?
Answering this question should become a top priority for military parents according a recent RAND study that found that children in military families may suffer from more emotional and behavioral difficulties when compared to other American youths, with older children and girls struggling the most when a parent is deployed overseas.
“Our study suggests that children of deployed service members face emotional and behavioral challenges,” said Anita Chandra, the study’s lead author and a behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. Much more work is needed to better understand these challenges and to improve ways to support children throughout the deployment cycle.”
The parent Brief Screen for Adolescent Depression (BSAD), developed by Christopher P. Lucas at the New York University Child Study Center is one such way to support the mental health of military children. Offered by the Department of Defense funded program Military Pathways® the BSAD offers parents the opportunity to take a simple questionnaire online to help determine if their child’s moodiness is a normal part of growing up or something more serious. The screening consists of a series of nine questions that parents can use to assess their child’s risk for depression and suicidality and determine whether their adolescent needs further help. The questionnaire can be accessed online at www.MilitaryMentalHealth.org.
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