Open AccessGender and Trauma as Predictors of Military Attrition: A Study of Marine Corps Recruits
Author(s) -
Jessica Wolfe,
Kiban Turner,
Marie B. Caulfield,
Tamara L. Newton,
Katherine Melia,
James A. Martin,
J. H. Goldstein
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
military medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1930-613X
pISSN - 0026-4075
DOI - 10.7205/milmed.170.12.1037
Subject(s) - attrition , military personnel , stressor , medicine , psychological intervention , interpersonal communication , coping (psychology) , military medicine , clinical psychology , psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , dentistry , political science , law
Recent studies have shown high rates of premilitary trauma exposure among U.S. military enlistees. Given the association of trauma with later stressor vulnerability, it is important to examine the role of premilitary stress and trauma in adaptation to the stress of recruit training. U.S. Marine Corps recruits (N = 1,530) were surveyed for premilitary histories of interpersonal trauma to examine the relationship between premilitary trauma and attrition from recruit training. The majority of the recruits (47.5% of men and 68.1% of women) reported experiencing at least one interpersonal trauma before entering the Marine Corps. Individuals with a history of interpersonal trauma were at significantly greater risk for attrition; they were 1.5 times more likely to drop out of recruit training than were individuals without a trauma history. These findings suggest that developing interventions to bolster recruits' coping skills may improve adaptation to the recruit training environment and thus decrease attrition.