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Children who are indirect victims of domestic violence can exhibit the same negative outcomes as children who are direct victims. This study investigated the consequences of children's exposure to domestic violence among parents on a range of children's outcomes: mental health, well‐being, school performance and placement in out‐of‐home care. We used administrative records from full population cohorts of children in Denmark (N = 399 519, born 1997–2003). We examined a target group of children exposed to domestic violence and a comparison group not exposed to it, both groups having similar personal and family backgrounds, including pre‐birth history of family domestic violence. To construct the comparison group, we used propensity score matching. Exposure to domestic violence had a substantial negative impact on academic performance (age 9–15), self‐reported well‐being in school (age 10–15) and also increased the likelihood of being placed in out‐of‐home care (age 9–15) and being diagnosed with post‐traumatic stress disorder (age 9–15). The discounted additional cost (medical and child welfare system) per child indirectly experiencing domestic violence was at least $31 000 (age 0–15). Thus, our results show important adverse effects and suggest that earlier prevention and more preventive social interventions could help reduce the long‐term consequences of childhood exposure to domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how affective forecasting errors (A.F.E.s), the difference between anticipated emotion and the emotion actually experienced, may induce changes in preferences on time, risk and occupation after combat. Building on psychological theories incorporating the role of emotion in decision-making, we designed a before-and-after-mission survey for Danish soldiers deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. Our hypothesis of an effect from A.F.E.s is tested by controlling for other mechanisms that may also change preferences: immediate emotion, trauma effect – proxied by post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.) – and changes in wealth and risk perception. At the aggregate level, results show stable preferences before and after mission. We find positive A.F.E.s for all three emotions studied (fear, anxiety and excitement), with anticipated emotions stronger than those actually experienced. We provide evidence that positive A.F.E.s regarding fear significantly increase risk tolerance and impatience, while positive A.F.E.s regarding excitement strengthen the will to stay in the military. Trauma has no impact on these preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of utilization of mental health services (MHS) among Danish veterans with self-reported deployment-related mental problems and to identify predictors for help-seeking behavior for mental problems among veterans. Materials and methods: Data on deployment characteristics was obtained from a telephone survey in 2011 among a random sample of veterans deployed during 1996–2009. Only respondents reporting sustained or less sustained mental problems were included, and data from national registers on mental health service utilization and prescribed psychotropics covering up to 22 years of follow-up was obtained. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of help-seeking. Results: Of 434 respondents with self-reported problems, 333 (77%) received any mental health service after deployment. Of those, 48 (23%) received any help within the first 2 years after deployment start while 128 (61%) did not receive help until after 4 years. Significant predictors for MHS utilization included sustained mental problems, combat exposure characteristics (being injured in combat, watching a fellow soldier suffer injuries), and deployment-related factors (being deployed to >1 mission and being deployed to Afghanistan). Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of time, and hereunder of a long follow-up period, when measuring the prevalence of help-seeking behavior for individuals experiencing mental problems after military deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates what motivates young people to volunteer for peace-keeping or peace-enforcing missions and how their motives change between pre- and post-deployment. Data include information about social and military background, and motives for more than 600 soldiers, 444 of whom answered the survey both before and after deployment. Soldiers are deployed to different missions under the same circumstances. To conceptualize motives among soldiers, we use factor analysis and find three factors: challenge, self-benefit, and fidelity. Challenge represents an occupational orientation; fidelity, an institutional orientation; and self-benefit, a desire for adventure. Exploiting the within-subject design of our data, we find that pre- and post-deployment motives vary significantly according to the type of mission and soldiers’ previous experiences (first-timers or experienced soldiers). Our results suggest that after the mission, peace-keepers are generally more disappointed than peace-enforcers. Our results also show that self-benefit motives are important for younger soldiers with only a high school education, and that this group usually serves as peace-enforcers during their gap year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]