The British Journal of Psychiatry (2007) 191: 506-511. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.039818
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Data supplement
Right arrow Submit an eLetter
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in BJP
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Iversen, A. C.
Right arrow Articles by Wessely, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Iversen, A. C.
Right arrow Articles by Wessely, S.

Influence of childhood adversity on health among male UK military personnel

Amy C. Iversen, MRCP, MRCPsych

King's Centre for Military Health Research, Department of Psychological Medicine

Nicola T. Fear, DPhil(Oxon)

Academic Centre for Defence Mental Health, Department of Psychological Medicine

Emily Simonoff, MD, FRCPsych

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Lisa Hull, MSc, Oded Horn, MSc, Neil Greenberg, MRCPsych, Matthew Hotopf, MRCPsych, PhD, Roberto Rona, FFPH, PhD and Simon Wessely, FRCP, MRCPsych

King's Centre for Military Health Research, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK

Correspondence: Dr Amy C. Iversen, Department of Psychological Medicine, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ, UK. Email: A.Iversen{at}iop.kcl.ac.uk

Declaration of interest N.G. is a full-time active service medical officer seconded to King's Centre for Military Health Research as a liaison officer. S.W. is Honorary Consultant Advisor in Psychiatry to the British Army.

Background Exposure to childhood adversity may explain why only a minority of combatants exposed to trauma develop psychological problems.

Aims To examine the association between self-reported childhood vulnerability and later health outcomes in a large randomly selected male military cohort.

Method Data are derived from the first stage of a cohort study comparing Iraq veterans and non-deployed UK military personnel. We describe data collected by questionnaire from males in the regular UK armed forces (n=7937).

Results Pre-enlistment vulnerability is associated with being single, of lower rank, having low educational attainment and serving in the Army. Pre-enlistment vulnerability is associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. Two main factors emerge as important predictors of ill health: a `family relationships' factor reflecting the home environment and an `externalising behaviour' factor reflecting behavioural disturbance.

Conclusions Pre-enlistment vulnerability is an important individual risk factor for ill health in military men. Awareness of such factors is important in understanding post-combat psychiatric disorder.


Related articles in BJP:

Highlights of this issue
Kimberlie Dean
BJP 2007 191: A21. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Evid. Based Ment. HealthHome page
N. T Fear and S. Wessely
Young people leaving the UK armed forces at increased risk of suicide
Evid. Based Ment. Health, November 1, 2009; 12(4): 123 - 123.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Occup Med (Lond)Home page
N. Jones, N. T. Fear, N. Greenberg, L. Hull, and S. Wessely
Occupational outcomes in soldiers hospitalized with mental health problems
Occup. Med., October 1, 2009; 59(7): 459 - 465.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Adv. Psychiatr. Treat.Home page
A. C. Iversen and N. Greenberg
Mental health of regular and reserve military veterans
Adv. Psychiatr. Treat., March 1, 2009; 15(2): 100 - 106.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]