The Views, Perceptions, and Understandings of Military Children in Relation to Their Family and Social Experiences: A Scoping Review

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.