title: A content analysis of military commander messages about tobacco and other health issues in military installation newspapers: what do military commanders say about tobacco?
abstract: Military installation newspapers are a primary means used by military commanders to communicate information about topics important to military personnel including leadership, training issues, installation events, safety concerns, and vital health issues. We conducted a content analysis of military commanders' messages about health issues that were published in online military installation newspapers/newsfeeds. We identified a total of 75 publicly accessible installation newspapers/newsfeeds with commanders' messages (n = 39 Air Force, n = 19 Army, n = 7 Navy, n = 1 Marine, and n = 9 Joint Bases). Commander messages published from January 2012 to December 2012 were collected, screened, and coded. Coder inter-rater reliability was 98.9%. Among the 2,479 coded commanders' messages, 132 (5.3%) addressed a health topic as the primary focus. There were no significant differences between service branches in the percentage of health-oriented messages (χ(2) = 5.019, p = 0.285). The most commonly addressed health topics were exercise/fitness (23.5%), other mental health concerns (19.7%), alcohol/driving under the influence (13.6%), and suicide (12.1%). Tobacco use was directly addressed as a primary health aim in only two commanders' messages (1.5%). Health topics, and particularly tobacco-related content, are rarely written about by military commanders. The absence of tobacco-related health messages from line leadership contributes to the perception that tobacco control is a low priority.
authors.affiliation: National Development and Research Institutes, Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224.
authors.forename: Walker S C
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Poston
authors.affiliation: National Development and Research Institutes, Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224.
authors.forename: Christopher K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.affiliation: National Development and Research Institutes, Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224.
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Jahnke
authors.affiliation: National Development and Research Institutes, Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224.
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hyder
authors.affiliation: National Development and Research Institutes, Institute for Biobehavioral Health Research, 1920 West 143rd Street, Suite 120, Leawood, KS 66224.
authors.forename: Nattinee
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jitnarin
mesh_terms: D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008603:Mental Health; D058749:Military Facilities; D008889:Military Personnel; D009326:Naval Medicine; D009524:Newspapers as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D013405:Suicide; D064424:Tobacco Use; D014481:United States