The Impact of Military Life on Young Children: A Call for Early Intervention

There is a paucity of studies relating to the impact of military life on children under the age of 5, yet these children are undergoing a period of rapid brain development, unparallelled at any other stage of the life course. The need to understand how they might be affected by military family life is urgent. This article discusses current understanding of the possible mechanisms by which military family life may adversely affect young children, considers antenatal education as an opportunity for early intervention and concludes with a call to action for new research into strategies to support military families with young children.