The impact of sexual abuse on job attrition in military recruits.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether recruits entering the U.S. Air Force with a history of sexual abuse had a higher attrition rate from basic military training (BMT).


METHODS
Retrospective, case-control study involving 28,918 recruits entering BMT from October 1, 1991, to September 30, 1992. Self-report questionnaires were given to all recruits on the second day of BMT. We compared recruits revealing a history of sexual abuse to all other recruits at the end of BMT and at the end of the next fiscal year.


RESULTS
We found that victims of sexual abuse had a higher attrition rate from BMT than non-victims (10.6 versus 4.1%, p < 0.0001). Four and one-tenth percent of all recruits (1,289) reported a history of sexual abuse, and fewer male than female recruits reported a history of sexual abuse (1.5 versus 15.1%, p < 0.0001). However, after BMT there were no differences in any job performance indicators between victims and non-victims.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that recruits with a history of sexual abuse had a higher attrition rate from BMT than those without a history of abuse; however, those recruits who did complete BMT were as successful as those who did not report a similar history of abuse.
Smikle
C B
CB
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California San Francisco 94143-0556, USA.
Fiedler
E
E
Sorem
K A
KA
Spencer
D K
DK
Satin
A J
AJ
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001359:Aviation; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012742:Sex Offenses; D013781:Texas; D014481:United States