Supportive communication between deployed parents and children is linked to children's adjustment

To examine associations between continued communication with a deployed parent and the adjustment of military-connected children during deployment, 180 at-home parents/caregivers of children aged 4 to 18 were surveyed. Overall quantity (frequency) and quality (deployed parent supportiveness and child's positive emotions after communicating) of communication did not differ across age groups and genders, despite age differences in a few modes of communication. In hierarchical regression analyses, the two quality of communication measures accounted for variance in children's problem behavior and health-related well-being over and above that accounted for by two family functioning variables, caregiver's marital satisfaction and perceived stress, known to predict children's adjustment during deployments. Frequency of communication, whether synchronous or asynchronous, was generally not important, except in one quantity x quality interaction. Finally, high quality communication had general, promotive effects on child adjustment rather than protective effects most evident in poorly functioning families.