Influence of childhood adversity on health among male UK military personnel.
BACKGROUND
Exposure to childhood adversity may explain why only a minority of combatants exposed to trauma develop psychological problems.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between self-reported childhood vulnerability and later health outcomes in a large randomly selected male military cohort.


METHODS
Data are derived from the first stage of a cohort study comparing Iraq veterans and non-deployed UK military personnel. We describe data collected by questionnaire from males in the regular UK armed forces (n=7937).


RESULTS
Pre-enlistment vulnerability is associated with being single, of lower rank, having low educational attainment and serving in the Army. Pre-enlistment vulnerability is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. Two main factors emerge as important predictors of ill health: a 'family relationships' factor reflecting the home environment and an 'externalising behaviour' factor reflecting behavioural disturbance.


CONCLUSIONS
Pre-enlistment vulnerability is an important individual risk factor for ill health in military men. Awareness of such factors is important in understanding post-combat psychiatric disorder.
Department of Psychological Medicine, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. A.Iversen@iop.kcl.ac.uk.
Amy C
AC
Iversen
Nicola T
NT
Fear
Emily
E
Simonoff
Lisa
L
Hull
Oded
O
Horn
Neil
N
Greenberg
Matthew
M
Hotopf
Roberto
R
Rona
Simon
S
Wessely
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology*