Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun 14:13:e57146.
doi: 10.2196/57146.

Canadian Armed Forces Veterans' Perspectives on the Effects of Exposure to Children in Armed Conflict During Military Service: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

Catherine Baillie Abidi  1 , San Patten  2 , Stephanie A Houle  3 , Ken Hoffer  2 , Kathryn Reeves  1 , Stéphanie Bélanger  4 , Anthony Nazarov  3 , Samantha Wells  5
Affiliations

Canadian Armed Forces Veterans' Perspectives on the Effects of Exposure to Children in Armed Conflict During Military Service: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

Catherine Baillie Abidi et al. JMIR Res Protoc. .

Abstract

Background: The mental health of military personnel has garnered increased attention over the last few decades; however, the impacts of perpetuating, observing, or failing to prevent acts that transgress deeply held moral standards, referred to as moral injuries, are less understood, particularly in relation to encounters with children during deployment. This paper describes a multiphased research protocol that centers around the lived experiences of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans to understand how encounters with children during military deployments impact the well-being and mental health of military personnel.

Objective: This study has four objectives: (1) highlight the lived experiences of CAF Veterans who encountered children during military deployments; (2) improve understanding of the nature of experiences that military personnel faced that related to observing or engaging with children during military service; (3) improve understanding of the mental health impacts of encountering children during military service; and (4) use participatory action research (PAR) to develop recommendations for improving preparation, training, and support for military personnel deployed to contexts where encounters with children are likely.

Methods: The research project has 2 main phases where phase 1 includes qualitative interviews with CAF Veterans who encountered children during military deployments and phase 2 uses PAR to actively engage Canadian Veterans with lived experiences of encountering children during military deployments, as well as health professionals and researchers to identify recommendations to better address the mental health effects of these encounters.

Results: As of January 26, 2024, a total of 55 participants and research partners have participated in the 2 phases of the research project. A total of 16 CAF Veterans participated in phase 1 (qualitative interviews), and 39 CAF Veterans, health professionals, and researchers participated in phase 2 (PAR). The results for phase 1 have been finalized and are accepted for publication. Data collection and analysis are ongoing for phase 2.

Conclusions: Prioritizing and valuing the experiences of CAF Veterans has deepened our understanding of the intricate nature and impacts of potentially morally injurious events involving children during military deployments. Together with health professionals and researchers, the PAR approach empowers CAF Veterans to articulate important recommendations for developing and improving training and mental health support. This support is crucial not only during the deployment cycle but also throughout the military career, helping lessen the effects of moral injury among military personnel.

International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/57146.

Keywords: Canadian Armed Forces Veterans; children; conflicts; deployments; mental health; military culture; moral injury; participatory action research; people-centered research; trauma-informed research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PAR project stages. PAR: participatory action research.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PAR team composition. PAR: participatory action research.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Griffin BJ, Purcell N, Burkman K, Litz BT, Bryan CJ, Schmitz M, Villierme C, Walsh J, Maguen S. Moral injury: an integrative review. J Trauma Stress. 2019;32(3):350–362. doi: 10.1002/jts.22362. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Litz BT, Stein N, Delaney E, Lebowitz L, Nash WP, Silva C, Maguen S. Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans: a preliminary model and intervention strategy. Clin Psychol Rev. 2009;29(8):695–706. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.07.003.S0272-7358(09)00092-0 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ein N, Liu JJW, Houle SA, Easterbrook B, Turner RB, MacDonald C, Reeves K, Deda E, Hoffer K, Abidi CB, Nazarov A, Richardson JD. The effects of child encounters during military deployments on the well-being of military personnel: a systematic review. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2022;13(2):2132598. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2132598. https://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/36325257 2132598 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Denov M. Encountering children and child soldiers during military deployments: the impact and implications for moral injury. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2022;13(2):2104007. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2022.2104007. https://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/35979504 2104007 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ein N, Houle SA, Liu JJW, Easterbrook B, Baker C, Fuertes M, Turner RB, MacDonald C, Reeves K, Deda E, Hoffer K, Abidi CB, Nazarov A, Richardson JD. The potentially morally injurious nature of encountering children during military deployments: a call for research. J Mil Veteran Fam Health. 2023;9(2):86–90. doi: 10.3138/jmvfh-2022-0044. https://jmvfh.utpjournals.press/doi/10.3138/jmvfh-2022-0044 - DOI - DOI