As the recent war with Iran erupts into one of the most consequential military conflicts in the Middle East military families are facing unprecedented stress and uncertainty.  A new longitudinal study, initiated in the aftermath of the outbreak of the war that began on October 7, 2023, tracked parents during the first seven months of the conflict and found that children’s behavior problems are significantly linked to parental burnout experienced by the at-home caregiver, regardless of whether a partner is deployed or still at home. While mothers with deployed partners initially reported higher exhaustion, their burnout levels stabilized over time, likely due to targeted support systems, whereas mothers whose partners remained at home experienced a rise in burnout as the conflict persisted. The findings suggest that protecting children’s resilience during a large-scale conflict like the war with Iran requires bolstering the emotional resources and external support available to primary caregivers, so they can avoid the depletion that negatively impacts family well-being.

A new study of what families think about virtual reality (VR) technologies reveals that parents want more research-based information on how VR technologies may influence brain and behavioral development. Families also placed a higher value on VR features that increase physical activity, compared to features such as educational content.