Rising to the Challenge
A major goal of the study is to understand how military life affects military-connected youth’s psychological and physical health, academic achievement, and educational and career goals. The SOAR survey collects information from parents and their children to determine risk and protective factors that can help inform policies and programs in order to improve the health and well-being of military families.
The Naval Health Research Center is one of eight laboratories affiliated with the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, within the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. Together, we support military mission readiness with research and development that delivers high-value, high-impact solutions to the health and readiness challenges our military population faces on the battlefield, at sea, on foreign shores, and at home.
SOAR is being conducted with support from The Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP). MC&FP is directly responsible for programs and policies establishing and supporting community quality of life programs for active-duty, National Guard and reserve service members, their families and survivors worldwide. The office also serves as the resource for coordination of quality of life issues within the Department of Defense.
SOAR investigators work closely with Military Community and Family Policy (MC&FP) to ensure that findings from the study are reported to military and civilian leadership. MC&FP programs include Military OneSource, Military and Family Life Counseling Program, Children and Youth programs, Exceptional Family Member Program, Relocation Assistance Program, Deployment Support, Spouse Education and Career Opportunities (SECO), and many more.
Visit Military OneSource (http://www.militaryonesource.mil/) for more information on many of these programs and the resources they provide.
Active duty military resource website, offering 24/7 support for service members, spouses, their family and survivors on taxes, moving, benefits, MWR and more.
Service members and veterans that are enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study with children between the ages of 11 and 17 are eligible to participate. Invitees provide the study team with contact information and permission to invite connected family members. Every participant will receive a $10 Amazon gift code for survey completion. A bonus $10 Amazon gift code will be sent to the service member once all family members have completed a survey, for a total of $40.
Consent forms explain the study, your rights as a participant, and how your information is being protected
Complete parent survey
Provide contact information for Adolescent and Other Parent (if applicable)
Receive an electronic gift card code to Amazon.com
Receive email invitation with Subject ID
Login to web survey with your Subject ID and complete consent form
Complete Survey
Receive an electronic gift card code to Amazon.com
The U.S. Department of Defense determined a need to collect data to better understand the health and well-being of military-connected adolescents. The Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR) is designed to determine if, and how, military experiences impact adolescents’ health and well-being. This study also provides a unique opportunity to explore the impact of military experiences on parenting and the parent-adolescent relationship. The study is embedded within the larger Millennium Cohort Program, which includes the Millennium Cohort Study of service members and veterans and the Family Study of military spouses. Millennium Cohort Study participants with adolescent children were invited to participate in this study. A comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by military-connected adolescents and their parents can inform support programs and services. Participation in this study is completely voluntary.
Participants who were referred by their parents who took the very first SOAR survey are eligible to take part in the follow-up survey. You will receive a $20 Amazon gift code after completing the first follow-up survey.
The Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR) is a project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The study is being conducted by the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, California.
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of military experiences on adolescents’ health and well-being. There are a limited number of participants in this study, so every individual response is needed for this to be a successful study. Your participation is a critical step in developing programs and services to increase the well-being of military-connected youth.
There is minimal risk to participating in this study. These risks could include possible discomfort in answering questions of a sensitive nature and data breach. You are able to skip any questions you do not wish to answer. All data are maintained securely on servers meeting DoD security standards (see "How safe is my information" below). Your answers are confidential and will not be shared with military commands, disability evaluators, insurance companies, or anyone not directly involved in data analysis. Only summary information from the entire sample, with no identifying information, will be published.
SOAR is designed as a longitudinal study, where follow-up surveys are administered to adolescents every 18-24 months spanning adolescence and early adulthood (approximately 5-7 follow-up surveys). Your choice to participate in this study is completely independent of your choice to accept or reject any future research invitations. You are free to withdraw from this study at any time by contacting the study Principal Investigator. However, your continued input in the study will be of great value to the advancement of military support services.
If you move, we ask that you contact us via email to update your new contact information.
Very safe. The information you provide on your survey is protected and stored in conjunction with a Subject ID number instead of your name. Only researchers working on this study have access to the data. Information stored on computers is protected by all measures required by DoD computer security regulations. Additionally, information cannot be obtained through requests from organizations such as insurance companies.
No. The scientific validity of this study requires researchers to follow certain protocols, which means that only those who receive invitations can participate in this study. However, the information gleaned from this study will be applicable to military-connected families with adolescent children.
Dr. Hope McMaster serves as a civilian research psychologist at NHRC where she is the Deputy Principal Investigator of the longitudinal Millennium Cohort Family Study and Principal Investigator of the newly funded Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR). Dr. McMaster helped launch the Family Study in 2010 and is now the lead investigator for all foundational papers and the mental health research portfolio director. Prior to joining NHRC, Dr. McMaster taught at the University of Hawaii while her family was stationed at Kaneohe Marine Corp Base, worked as a research psychologist for the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, and examined racial disparities in health for the Nashville Metropolitan Health Department. Over the past two decades, she has published on the topics of racial bias in jury decision making, racial disparities in health, military couple relationships, survey methodology, and military spouse well-being. She also has two active-duty military-connected adolescent daughters.
Ms. Sarah Carinio is a Study Coordinator at the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) in San Diego, CA. She is currently coordinating efforts for the Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR). Prior to her role as a study coordinator, Ms. Carinio served as a Research Associate in the Health and Behavioral Sciences Department at NHRC. She received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health from San Diego State University in 2017.
Dr. Karen Tannenbaum is a research psychologist at NHRC where she is the study lead for three research efforts including a program evaluation study, and two studies investigating barriers and facilitators for help-seeking behavior among Marines with depression and male survivors of military sexual trauma. Dr. Tannenbaum serves as key personnel for the Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR) team, supporting survey development and manuscript preparation. Her research interests include romantic relationships, negative interpersonal experiences, sexual identity - behavior discordance, gender expression, and the health and wellbeing of sexual minority/gender diverse military members and military-connected adolescents. She has published empirical manuscripts and technical reports on sexual identity-behavior discordance and military program evaluation.
Dr. Sabrina Richardson is a developmental psychologist interested in child adaptation to military and non-military risk, with a particular attention to relationship processes of resilience. She has worked at the Naval Health Research Center for the past seven years. Among her topics of study, Sabrina has focused on foster youth sibling relationships and narrative meaning making, social worker-youth communication processes, military spouse adjustment to and readiness for future deployments, marital stability among military spouses, and child maltreatment in the first two years of life among military parents. Most recently, Sabrina has been studying child behavioral adjustment to family separation from service.
Dr. Neika Sharifian is a Research Scientist for the Millennium Cohort Study and the Millennium Cohort Study of Adolescent Resilience (SOAR) at the Naval Health Research Center. Dr. Sharifian completed her PhD in Developmental Psychology at North Carolina State University and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Over the past decade, Dr. Sharifian has published on topics such as modifiable psychosocial factors associated with socioemotional and cognitive aging and health disparities.
Ms. Kelly Woodall, MPH, is an epidemiologist at the Naval Health Research Center serving with the Millennium Cohort Program for over 10 years. She is an author and coauthor on publications addressing physical, mental, and behavioral health among service members and their families, military family readiness and retention, as well as spouse economic well-being. Her expertise is in the management and analysis of complex datasets including longitudinal cohort research designs, mixed survey and archival data, and dyadic data modeling. She is a military spouse with three young children.
Mr. Alex Esquivel, MPH, is a Data Analyst for the Millennium Cohort Family Study (MCFS) at the Naval Health Research Center. His time at NHRC has been primarily with the Family Study where he’s helped publish manuscripts regarding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, military separation, and other various topics. He has also worked as an intern and Research Assistant with the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) prior to his time with the Family Study. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from California State University San Marcos in 2015 and Master of Public Health from San Diego State University in 2017.
Millennium Cohort Program (MCP)
Joining Forces Interagency Policy Committee
US Department of Defense
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