Associations of Military Divorce with Mental, Behavioral, and Physical Health Outcomes.

摘要

There is a paucity of data on the associations of recent divorce on the health and military outcomes of service members during the recent conflicts. Participants of the Millennium Cohort Study who were divorced between baseline and follow-up surveys were compared with those who remained married, for mental, behavioral, physical, and functional health outcomes as well as military outcomes using separate logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic, baseline behavioral, and military covariates. Compared with those who remained married, service members who recently divorced were significantly more likely to screen positive for new-onset posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, smoking initiation, binge drinking, and alcohol-related problems (all p less than 0.05). Those who divorced were also more likely to experience moderate weight gain, be in the highest 15th percentile of physical functioning, and deploy within the subsequent 3-year period. There were no associations between divorce and military separation. The findings suggest that recent divorce among military members is associated with adverse mental health outcomes and risky health-related behaviors, without detectable negative effects on deployability or military attrition. Attention should be given to those recently divorced regarding mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention strategies.