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Poster #174 - Peer Support and Number of Family Moves as Predictors of Internalizing Symptoms in Military-Connected Students

Sat, March 23, 9:45 to 11:00am, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Military families experience unique stressors that place children at risk for negative psychosocial outcomes (O’Grady et al., 2015). Research suggests military-related moves are a common stressor and that transitioning to a new school can be challenging (Bradshaw, 2010). Supportive relationships with peers, if formed, could serve as a protective factor, limiting children’s experiences with social and emotional difficulties. Few scholars have examined the protective role of positive peer relationships for military-connected students, due perhaps to the challenges of recruiting military families into research projects. In this study, we examined whether the relation between military-related moves and students’ level of internalizing symptoms was moderated by their connectedness to peers.

Method
Participants were recruited from four elementary schools near Olympia, WA. Data were gathered from military-connected students (n = 52) and their parents (n = 50). Students (boys, 48%; girls, 52%) were in grades 2-5, and 75.6% of parents responding had a partner who was active-duty military, and 13.3% were actively-duty military themselves.

Parents reported on the number of family moves since their children started school. Children reported on connectedness to peers using the peer subscale from the Hemingway Measure of Childhood Connections (Karcher & Sass, 2010) and the anxiety and depression scales of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS; Cella et al., 2007).

Results
Bivariate correlations among study variables are shown in Table 1. Anxiety was regressed onto number of military moves and peer connectedness, followed by the interaction of these two variables. The first step (moves, peer connectedness) was significant and accounted for 22% of the variance, F(2, 44) = 6.15, p = .004. Peer connectedness was the only significant predictor, (B = -.439, p = .004). The interaction between moves X peer connectedness was not significant, F(1, 43) = .439, p = .511.

As a set, military-related moves and peer connectedness accounted for 12% of the variance in depression, which approached significance, F(2, 44) = 2.85, p = .069. The interaction of military moves and peer connectedness accounted for 8% additional variance, F (1, 43) = 4.36, p = .043 (see Figure 1). For children with high peer connectedness, the relation between number of military moves and depression was positive (B+1SD = .27), whereas for children with low peer connectedness it was negative (B-1SD = -.26).

Discussion
We found no direct relation between military family moves and children’s reports of anxiety and depression symptoms. However, children’s level of peer connectedness was a significant moderator of that association. Contrary to hypotheses, children with strong peer connections reported higher rates of depressive symptoms with more frequent family moves. For children with weaker peer connections, the relation between family moves and depressive symptoms was negative. Because our data are cross-sectional, these findings suggest the possibility that military-connected children who experience more family moves are at risk for higher rates of depressive symptoms if highly invested in their peer relationships (Bradshaw et al., 2010). These findings have potential implications for how schools can serve students from military families (Astor et al., 2010).

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