Abstract
Objective
Despite concerns about increased sexual harassment and assault after the 2013 legislation
repealing the ban on women in combat, little research has examined military factors
that could prevent sexual harassment and assault during deployment. This study examined
whether unit support, which reflects the quality of service members' relationships
within their unit, protects against sexual harassment and assault during deployment.
Methods
Participants were 1,674 Ohio Army National Guard service members who reported at least
one deployment during a telephone survey conducted in 2008 and 2009. Participants
completed measures of sexual harassment/assault, unit support, and psychosocial support.
Logistic regression was used to model odds of sexual harassment/assault.
Results
Approximately 13.2% of men (n = 198) and 43.5% of women (n = 74) reported sexual harassment, and 1.1% of men (n = 17) and 18.8% of women (n = 32) reported sexual assault during their most recent deployment. Greater unit support
was associated with decreased odds of sexual harassment and assault.
Conclusions
A substantial proportion of men and women reported sexual harassment/assault. Greater
unit support was associated with diminished odds of sexual harassment/assault during
deployment. Programming designed to improve unit cohesion has the potential to reduce
sexual harassment and assault.
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Biography
Dr. Kate Walsh, PhD, is a clinical psychologist completing a fellowship in substance use epidemiology at Columbia University. Her work focuses on the intersection of trauma exposure, particularly sexual violence, psychopathology, and substance use disorders in military and civilian populations.
Biography
Dr. Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, a physician and epidemiologist, is Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University. His work focuses on causes of brain disorders, particularly mood-anxiety and substance use disorders, and he has an interest in consequences of trauma.
Biography
Magdalena Cerdá, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University. Her research focuses on lifecourse influences on substance use onset and continuity, new drivers and forms of illegal substance use, and neighborhood causes and mental health consequences of violence.
Biography
Dr. Catherine Richards, MPH, is an epidemiologist at Columbia University where she is manager for the Global Research Analytics for Population Health (GRAPH) Program and lead data visualization designer for the GRAPH website.
Biography
Dr. Israel Liberzon, MD, is a Professor Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Michigan. His work centers on emotions, stress and stress related disorders like PTSD, particularly in the regulation and dysregulation of stress response systems.
Biography
Dr. Marijo B. Tamburrino, MD, is a psychiatrist at the University of Toledo. Her work is in the areas of posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
Biography
Dr. Joseph Calabrese, MD, is a psychiatrist at Case Western Reserve University. His work focuses on the phenomenology and treatment of bipolar disorder, and he also studies mental health and functioning among National Guard personnel.
Biography
Dr. Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University. She uses a developmental approach to examine the interplay of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of stress-related mental disorders, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression.
Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
May 29,
2014
Received in revised form:
May 22,
2014
Received:
November 25,
2013
Footnotes
The authors acknowledge the following funding sources: T32DA031099, W81XWH-07-1-0409, MH082729, W81XWH-08-2-0204. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. The first author had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
