In the past six months, 29 percent of military-connected teenagers and young adults who participated in a recent survey reported thoughts of self-harm and 16 percent harmed themselves at least once, according to The Military Teen Experience in 2026: A Data-Driven Understanding of Our Military-Connected Teens and How We Can Help. Seventeen percent reported some level of suicidal ideation.
The report by the National Military Family Association (NMFA), published in August, covers insights from roughly 800 individuals ages 13-24 on topics including mental health, relationships, educational and career goals, thoughts on military service and more.
“The findings point toward a clear path for action. Among teens who reported self-harm, the most common reason, cited by roughly four in five respondents, was affect regulation: using self-harm to manage emotional pain,” the NMFA said. “This was not primarily an act of defiance or a bid for attention. It was a coping strategy used when healthier alternatives were not available or accessible. That distinction changes how we respond.”
Although many of the youth feel that adults in their lives do understand their struggles, some indicated they hold back to prevent their parents from worrying. The nonprofit recommends listening to the impacted individual’s problem before trying to solve it, being consistent in communication and sharing personal, stressful experiences when appropriate as it can reduce stigma. It’s important to acknowledge the stressors specific to military life that young people are facing, such as how hard it is to start at a new school and build peer connections.
Having at least one caring adult besides a parent, such as a teacher or coach, even short-term, has proven beneficial. Friendships are a significant protective factor for the mental health of miliary teens, survey participants shared, as they offer stability, belonging and support.
“Overall, 70 percent of respondents demonstrated moderate mental well-being, 9 percent demonstrated high mental well-being, and 22 percent demonstrated low mental well-being,” according to the report. Lower well-being was linked to encountering greater food insecurity, more deployments, more permanent changes of station and having attended more schools because of relocation. On average, respondents experienced an average of four deployments, five permanent changes of station and attended four different schools.
Regarding mental health care, 57 percent of surveyed youth felt they didn’t need it and 21 percent shared that they needed it but lacked access.
Other findings
“For the fifth consecutive year, NMFA found that the respondents of this survey are experiencing food insecurity at higher rates than their civilian peers. One-third (34 percent) of participants reported experiencing some level of food insecurity in the past month,” the report states. “This percentage is also troublingly higher than what is reported for military families.”
This can commonly be associated with a larger issue many households face: financial insecurity. As a third of adolescents who took the survey wish to serve their country one day, missing out on key nutrition during developmental years can impact their readiness.
“As in previous survey results, we found that households with both parents currently serving in the military were more likely to experience food insecurity,” according to the report. “Further, experiencing more deployments and having a parent with service-connected injuries were linked to experiencing greater food insecurity.”
Fifty-two percent of survey respondents had at least one parent living with a service-connected wound, illness or injury, with many of them taking on caretaking responsibilities. Thoughts of self-harm and actual incidents of self-harm were more prevalent among young people with a wounded, ill or injured service parent.
Upon the completion of high school, 61 percent of those surveyed planned to go to college.
For those who planned to serve in the military at some point, 18 percent said that paying for college was their motivation.
