title: The impact of prior deployment experience on civilian employment after military service.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if deployment to recent military operations or other health, demographic, or military-related characteristics were associated with employment after military service.
  
  
  METHODS
  Former US active duty military service members participating in the Millennium Cohort Study, a population-based sample of US military personnel that began in July of 2001, were prospectively followed from the time of baseline health reporting to self-reported employment status after military separation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 9099 separated personnel meeting inclusion criteria, 17% reported unemployment after military service. In multivariable modelling, prior deployment experiences, with or without reported combat, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were not significantly associated with employment status postservice. Among those who routinely retired from service with a pension, positive screens for depression (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.63) and panic/anxiety (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.43) were significantly associated with subsequent unemployment. Poor physical health, female sex, black race, lower education and disabling illnesses/injuries were also predictive of postservice unemployment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After stratifying for reason for military separation, mental disorders like depression or panic/anxiety and poor physical health may have greater impact than prior deployment experiences or PTSD on the ability to find or maintain employment postservice. These findings may guide support for veterans most in need of job placement services after military service.
authors.affiliation: Deployment Health Research Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA 92106-5122, USA. Jaime.Horton@med.navy.mil
authors.forename: Jaime L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Horton
authors.forename: Isabel G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Charlene A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Timothy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Boyko
authors.forename: Besa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Margaret A K
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Tyler C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D001007:Anxiety; D001008:Anxiety Disorders; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003863:Depression; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010415:Pensions; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; D014478:Unemployment / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States