OROMOCTO, N.B. — A new study says the children of parents in the military are suffering stress, isolation and depression linked to the deployment of their parents in Afghanistan.

The findings were presented in Oromocto, N.B., on Thursday following three years of research into the well-being, family functioning and social development of adolescents in military families.

Deborah Harrison, a sociology professor at the University of New Brunswick who led the study, says living with a parent who has post-traumatic stress disorder on their return from a deployment continues the psychological stress felt by a child.

"We found that family life was almost always negatively affected by an injured parent's symptoms of anger and depression," Harrison said in a news release.

"Some adolescents reported needing to go through a process of grieving the loss of their family as it had been before the deployment. They also reported feeling very isolated -- along with their families -- by the stigma against non-physical injuries that exists in rank-and-file army culture."

The study focused on kids whose parents serve at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown near Oromocto, but included researchers from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and Ryerson and York universities in Toronto.

It found adolescents felt a sense of responsibility for the emotional well-being of the parent and younger siblings who remained at home.

In a 2008 survey of students at Oromocto High School, researchers found there was little difference between the mental health of adolescents from military families compared with children from civilian families in the same community.

It also found that adolescents from military families have a more positive attitude towards school than children from civilian families.