Children and families often experience stress from the physical or emotional absence of a parent due to deployment. The health of the family system plays a vital role in the successful transition through deployment and redeployment phases. Even very young children show signs of behavioral problems, sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, and anxiety from parental deployment. This article reviews the literature concerning the impact of parental deployment on preschool aged children and current interventions and discusses implications for counselors assisting military families.
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