Do adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of postdeployment posttraumatic stress disorder in US Marines?

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Characteristics of Recruit Assessment Program male responders deployed between September 1, 2001 and June 30, 2004

Characteristic	Study Sample N = 8391 (%)	Postdeployment PTSD^a N = 226 (%)
Age, y
17-18	54.0	54.9
19-20	32.0	32.3
20+	14.1	12.8
Education
High school or less	82.4	83.6
More than high school	17.6	16.4
AFQT score
< 42 (below 25th percentile)	22.9	36.3
42-54 (25-49th percentile)	25.3	23.5
55-70 (50-74th percentile)	25.5	24.3
> 70 (above 74th percentile)	26.4	15.9
Parents' education
High school or less	36.0	36.3
Some college	29.7	31.9
College graduate	27.8	25.7
Unknown	6.6	6.2
Race/ethnicity
White non-Hispanic	63.8	68.1
Hispanic	23.6	19.9
Black non-Hispanic	4.5	4.0
Other	8.1	8.0
Marital status at time of deployment
Not married	84.3	77.9
Married	15.8	22.1
Number of close friends
0-1	12.1	16.8
2 or more	87.9	83.2
Alcohol drinking behavior at service entry
Nondrinker	32.7	30.5
Non-problematic drinker	34.8	38.9
Potential problematic drinker	32.6	30.5
Smoking status at service entry
Never	67.8	61.1
Past smoker	3.3	3.5
Current < 2 pack years	19.2	24.3
Current ≥ 2 pack years	9.7	11.1
Cumulative length of deployments^b
< 3 months	11.9	12.8
3-6 months	51.6	53.1
6-9 months	32.2	27.9
> 9 months	4.4	6.2
Number of deployments
1	95.0	88.5
2-3	5.1	11.5
Diagnosed with mental health disorder prior to deployment
No	98.1	95.6
Yes	1.9	4.4
Self-reported visiting mental health professional in last 5 years
No	98.8	98.2
Yes	1.2	1.8
Self-reported poor mental health^c
None or a little of the time	78.0	74.8
Some, most, or all the time	22.0	25.2
Non-ACE past traumatic event^d
No	59.7	59.7
Yes	40.3	40.3

Abbreviations: ACE = adverse childhood experiences; AFQT = Armed Forces Qualification Test; PTSD = posttraumatic stress disorder.
As a result of rounding, percentages may not sum to 100%.
^aDiagnosed with PTSD after returning from first deployment in support of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and within 2 years of last deployment. Responders with a PTSD diagnosis prior to first deployment are excluded from this model.
^bCumulative number of days deployed until first diagnosis, 2 years after last deployment, or June 30, 2005, whichever came first.
^cAverage of Likert scale responses to 4 survey questions asking about feeling downhearted and blue, nervous, down in the dumps, and not calm or peaceful, during the past year.
^dSelf-reported having a severe accident, seeing someone badly injured or killed, being attacked or assaulted, threatened with a weapon, or being raped.

ISSN: 1471-2458