Adjustment Disorder Symptoms Among Parents of Soldiers in Mandatory Service During Wartime

ABSTRACT Background Parents of soldiers remain relatively understudied in wartime mental health research, and adjustment disorder in this population has yet to be examined. Objective Grounded in the transactional stress model, the study explored adjustment disorder symptoms and the factors associated with these symptoms among parents of soldiers in mandatory military service during wartime, focusing on an objective stressor (combat service), stress appraisals (intolerance of uncertainty and trust in government), and parental regulatory patterns (parental identity centrality and parental self‐silencing). Method A cross‐sectional survey was conducted during the October 2023 war in Israel. Participants completed validated measures of the study variables and sociodemographic characteristics, and the data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. Results Elevated adjustment disorder symptoms were observed, with 77% of participants exceeding the recommended screening threshold. Combat service, higher intolerance of uncertainty, lower levels of trust in government, greater parental identity centrality, and greater parental self‐silencing were each independently associated with adjustment disorder symptoms. Among the sociodemographic variables, gender emerged as significantly associated with adjustment disorder symptoms, with women reporting higher levels of distress than men. Together, the study variables accounted for 53.3% of the variance in adjustment disorder symptoms. Conclusion These findings indicate that symptoms of adjustment disorder among parents of soldiers are associated with the convergence of an objective stressor, dual appraisal processes, and parent‐specific regulatory patterns. Implications Parents of soldiers in mandatory military service may benefit from targeted clinical attention and multilevel intervention addressing stress appraisals, parental regulatory patterns, and transparent institutional communication during wartime.