Date of Graduation
1989
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Although extensive research has focused upon the adjustment problems of the veterans of the Vietnam conflict, little data is available concerning their children. The purpose of this study is to provide a description of the adolescent children who have lived with Vietnam combat veteran fathers, comparing them (on the basis of social and personal adjustment, relationship with their parents, personality development, and a few personal choices and opinions) with a control group of children whose fathers were not in Vietnam. The experimental group, consisting of 14 girls and 14 boys from a high school in West Virginia and a control group of equal size, age, and gender, were compared on grade point average, school absences, achievement test scores, the Behavior Rating Profile (BRP Teacher Rating Scale, Parent Rating Scale, Student Rating Scales: Home, School, Peer), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Child's Attitude Toward Father and Mother, the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ), and an original Questionnaire. Analyses of variance were computed and the children of combat veterans were significantly more troubled (p {dollar}<{dollar}.05) as indicated by the BRP (Parent Rating Scale; Student Rating Scale: Home; Student Rating Scale: School); BDI; Child's Attitude Toward Father; HSPQ scales of Tension, Apprehension, Anxiety, and Creativity; with all other variables being nonsignificant. Gender differences were analyzed as were differences between subgroups of veteran children split by the fathers' scores on the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M-PTSD). Implications for research and practice were discussed.
Recommended Citation
Smejkal, Virginia P., "Second generation effects of the Vietnam conflict: Adjustment and development of adolescent children of combat veterans." (1989). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9788.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9788