Disposition Decisions in U.S. Air Force Basic Trainees Assessed During Mental Health Evaluations

Staal, Mark A.; Cigrang, Jeff A.; Fiedler, Edna R.

doi:10.1207/s15327876mp1203_2

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…About 4% to 6% of all Air Force recmits are referred to mental health facilities for evaluafion during basic training (34,62,239). About 2/3 of these are returned to duty and about 1/3 recommended for discharge (34,62,239).…”

Section: Mental Health-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…About 2/3 of these are returned to duty and about 1/3 recommended for discharge (34,62,239). A diagnosis of adjustment disorder accounts for about 14 of all mental healtli referrals and slightly over V2 of referrals that are eventually discharged from service.…”

Section: Mental Health-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A history of pre-service physical or sexual abuse is a consistently demonstrated risk factor for mental health-related attrition from basic training (20,30,34,46,235,239). The two studies on the prevalence of physical or sexual abuse among service trainees have found widely different prevalence values probably because of the different questionnaire instruments that have been used and different definitions of abuse.…”

Section: (1) Physical or Sexual Abusementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Training instructors often present as harsh and aggressive individuals and trainees with previous abuse may feel they are again being abused. They may be unable to emotionally tolerate the stress (46,239).…”

Section: (1) Physical or Sexual Abusementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The association between mental health histories and basic training attrition of trainees referred to the mental health service has been examined (34,239). The authors of one study (34) did not provide a statistical analysis of their data but sufficient information was provided for a secondary analysis (chi-square).…”

Section: (2) Mental Health Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

A Review of the Literature on Attrition from the Military Services: Risk Factors for Attrition and Strategies to Reduce Attrition

Knapik¹,

Jones²,

Hauret³

et al. 2004

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including ttie time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)Attrition is the failure of an enlisted service member to be retained in service v/ithin the first term of enlistment. This paper emphasizes health/fitness-related aspects of attrition but also covers demographic and psychosocial factors. Overall 3-year military attrition steadily rose fi-om 26% in 1985 to 31% in 1995. Demographic and psychosocial risk factors for attrition include lower educational attaiiunent, female gender, White ethnicity, lower Armed Forces Qualification Test scores, lower moral character (less conformance to laws, rules and regulations), moral waivers, pre-service job instability, and less time in the Delayed Entry Program. The age-attrition relationship appears to be bimodal with higher attrition when youngest, decreasing in 19-23 year olds, and rising again after that. Attrition for mental health reasons is associated with pre-service physical/sexual abuse, previous mental health counseliag, previous treatment with medication, previous psychiatric hospitalization, low motivation, pessimism toward training, depression, lack of self-reliance, and referral to a mental health facility. Attrition is also higher among those waivered for hearing problems, skin disorders, back disorders, and prior knee injuries. Other health-related risk factors include pre-service injury, injuries during basic training, a history of prior cigarette smoking, low physical activity prior to service, greater body weight, higher body mass index and lower physical fitness. Strategies to reduce attrition include prescreening by biographical questionnaires, compensatory screening, individual behavioral health counseling, and realistic job previews. Senior leadership initiatives have a powerful effect on attrition. Attrition also appears to be reduced by increasing physical fitness prior to basic training, the Physical Training and Rehabilitation Program, and the Pre-Initial Entry Training Program (for National Guard). ."""""""""""""""""""." -lnitial Entry Training Program,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..... For the purposes of this paper, attrition was defined as the failure of an enlisted service member to be retained in service during their contracted first term of enlistment. This manuscript reviews a wide range of factors influencing attrition but the primary interest is in health-related factors. SUBJECT TERMS PATTERN OF ATTRITION OVER TIME AND REASONS FOR ATTRITION.Overall 3-year military attrition steadily rose from 26% in 1985 to 31% in 1995. About 1/3 of attrition occurred in the first 6 months of service, about V2 within the first year, and the remainder in the subsequent 2 year period. Separations within the first 6 months of service were associated with performance proble...

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Section: Mental Health-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mental Health-related Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (1) Physical or Sexual Abusementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (1) Physical or Sexual Abusementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (2) Mental Health Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

A Review of the Literature on Attrition from the Military Services: Risk Factors for Attrition and Strategies to Reduce Attrition

Knapik¹,

Jones²,

Hauret³

et al. 2004

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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Challenging missions: vulnerable veterans leaving the armed forces and promising avenues to support them

Duel¹,

Godier-McBard

MacLean

et al. 2019

Military Veteran Reintegration

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Stress management training for military trainees returned to duty after a mental health evaluation: Effect on graduation rates.

Cigrang¹,

Todd²,

Carbone³

2000

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology

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A significant proportion of people entering the military are discharged within the first 6 months of enlistment. Mental health related problems are often cited as the cause of discharge. This study evaluated the utility of stress inoculation training in helping reduce the attrition of a sample of Air Force trainees at risk for discharge from basic military training. Participants were 178 trainees referred for a psychological evaluation from basic training. Participants were randomly assigned to a 2-session stress management group or a usual-care control condition. Compared with past studies that used less rigorous methodology, this study did not find that exposure to stress management information increased the probability of graduating basic military training. Results are discussed in terms of possible reasons for the lack of treatment effects and directions for future research. The Department of Defense must annually recruit approximately 200,000 young adults for the activeduty armed forces to sustain the United States' ability to effectively pursue national security interests, A number of trends are evident suggesting that meeting this requirement has become more difficult in the 1990s. The proportion of young men and women who express an intention to serve on active duty in one of the military services has declined across the past decade (Cohen, 1998). The percentage of military recruits who score in the top half of the Armed Forces Qualification Test has dropped from 86% in 1990 to 79% in 1997 (McGinty, 1998). In recent testimony to Congress, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the strong economy in the United States is draining the military of its most talented workforce ("Joint Chiefs," 1998). Studies conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office in the last 2 years have focused attention on the high attrition rate of young people who do choose to enlist in the military (Scarborough, 1998; U.S. General Accounting Office, 1997). Results showed that approximately one third are discharged before completing their first tour of duty. These observations underscore the considerable

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Disposition Decisions in U.S. Air Force Basic Trainees Assessed During Mental Health Evaluations

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

A Review of the Literature on Attrition from the Military Services: Risk Factors for Attrition and Strategies to Reduce Attrition

A Review of the Literature on Attrition from the Military Services: Risk Factors for Attrition and Strategies to Reduce Attrition

Challenging missions: vulnerable veterans leaving the armed forces and promising avenues to support them

Stress management training for military trainees returned to duty after a mental health evaluation: Effect on graduation rates.

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