Untold Story of Wartime Children: Results of the Vietnam Health and Aging Study

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the long-term effects of the Vietnam War on physical and mental health outcomes of Vietnamese who were children (age 6 to 9 and 10 to 14), teenagers (age 15 to 19), and young adults (age 20 +) during the war, including differences by gender and military participation, and examine the ways in which these effects are moderated by age. Research has documented that the effects of war on physical and mental health may linger well into late adulthood, suggesting a scarring effect of war among wartime children in particular. However, the degree to which scarring differentially affects younger versus older children, or children versus teenagers and young adults, is not well established. Using detailed individual level health data provided by the Vietnam Health and Aging Study (VHAS), we examine the association between the age of exposure to warfare and long-term physical and mental health outcomes of affected cohorts. Our analysis shows that early childhood exposure has long-lasting detrimental effects on an array of adult health outcomes. Wartime children who were exposed before their teen years are significantly more susceptible to functional and physical limitations, and impaired ability to perform daily activities, as older adults. Our results also indicate that while war exposure associates positively with PTSD across all age cohorts, it is pre-teens that are statistically most likely to suffer in old age compared to their older counterparts, suggesting both physical and mental health could be scarred by early childhood exposure to war. Additionally, we find that male wartime children are more likely to suffer from physical limitations, while female wartime children appear to experience PTSD symptoms over the course of their lives. Moreover, children who remained civilian over the course of war disproportionally suffered adverse long-term health effects of war. Taking these findings together, they indicate the importance of post-conflict policy that prioritizes mitigating efforts aimed at improving both physical and mental health of children, particularly those at risk. These targeted post-war policies are critical for not only the post-war recovery, but also for peacekeeping operations within conflict-torn countries.