Psychiatric Screening for the Submarine Service: Enlisted Personnel

摘要

A brief overview of 25 years of psychiatric screening of enlisted personnel forsubmarine service in the United States Navy is presented. Current screening consists of administration of a submarine specific test, Subscreen, to all prospective Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS) candidates. Figures from 1991 and 1992 show that approximately 9.7% of these candidates are referred for more extensive testing at the Psychiatry Department of the Naval Hospital Groton. Less that two percent of all candidates are subsequently dropped from Bess. Two measures of test performance, sensitivity (the ability of a test to yield a positive finding when the individual tested actually has the condition being tested for) and specificity (the ability of a test to yield a negative finding when the individual tested does not have the condition) were studied. Both sensitivity (75%) and specificity (92%) were very good for Subscreen, especially compared to a test the USAF administers for similar purposes. Although some small changes will improve test performance, in general, Subscreen remains an effective tool for screening for Submarine Service.