Childhood Maltreatment Experiences among US Army Reserve/National Guard Soldiers and their Partners

Rachel C. Daws, D. Lynn Homish, Sarah Cercone Heavey, & Gregory G. Homish

School of Public Health & Health Professions

The State University of New York at Buffalo

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Presenter Disclosures

Presenter: Rachel C. Daws

• The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months:

No commercial relationships to disclose

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Childhood Maltreatment

• All forms of abuse, neglect, and ill-treatment that

occur to children under 18 years of age

• Physical Abuse

• Sexual Abuse

• Emotional/Psychological abuse

• Physical/Emotional Neglect

• May also include exposure to intimate partner

violence

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Effects of Childhood Maltreatment

• Increased risk for leading causes of death (Felitti, et

al., 1998)

• Somatic complaints, poor perceived quality of life

and physical functioning (Afifi et al, 2007; Allen, 2008)

• Poor mental health outcomes and higher reported

substance abuse (Allen, 2013; Felitti, et al., 1998)

• Increased risk of intergenerational cycle of abuse (Pears & Capaldi, 2001; CDC, 2015)

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issues.jpg 5

Prevalence in the Military

• High prevalence of

maltreatment among

soldiers (Aversa et al., 2014;

VanVoorhees et al., 2012)

• While USAR/NG soldiers

have unique stressors,

child maltreatment

research has not

focused on this grouphttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Battalion,_320th

_Field_Artillery_Regiment

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Aim of the Present Work

• To better understand childhood maltreatment

experiences in a sample of USAR/NG soldiers

https://pixabay.com/en/soldier-saluting-salute-man-person-294475/7

Operation: SAFETY

• Purpose to examine the health and wellness of US

Army Reserve/ National Guard soldiers and their

partners

• N=407 couples

• Recruited samples at drill weekends

• Vetted through Army Human Research Protections

Office, OCAR, TAG

• Obtained individual BN/Unit Commanders permission to

attend drill

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Operation: SAFETY Study Design

• Ongoing, multi-wave study

• 3 computerized questionnaires over 2 years

• Questions covered general health topics

• Participants were compensated for their time

• Obtained a Certificate of Confidentiality from DHHS

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Participant Eligibility

• Married/cohabitating

• English Speaking

• Current USAR/NG Soldier

• Between 18-45 years of age

• Past year alcohol consumption

• Willing and able to participate

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Participant CharacteristicsHusbands

% (n) or m(SD)Wives

% (n) or m(SD)

Soldiers 81.1% (383) 18.9% (89)

Dual Military Dyads 16.0% (65)

Civilians 5.9% (24) 78.1% (318)

Race/EthnicityWhiteBlackHispanicOther

80.3% (322)5.7% (23)9.2% (37)4.7% (19)

86.7% (345)2.5% (10)5.0% (20)5.8% (23)

Education<HS-HS GradSome CollegeCollege +

15.2% (62)55.5% (226)29.2% (119)

10.6% (43)43.0% (174)46.4 % (188)

Age 31.6 (6.53) 30.5 (6.72)

Married/Cohabitating 63.9 % (260)/36.1 % (147)

Years Served 9.7 (6.14) 7.0 (4.87)

# of Deployments 1.7 (.92) 1.3 (.48) 11

Methods

• Prevalence of maltreatment was calculated by

gender and military status

• Differences in childhood maltreatment by military

status were determined using T-tests

• Both male and female partners were examined

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Childhood Maltreatment

Comprehensive Child Maltreatment Scale for

Adults (Higgins & McCabe, 2001)

• Physical abuse (3 items)

• Psychological abuse (3 items)

• Neglect experiences (3 items)

• Witnessing family violence (2 items)

• 5-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 4 (always)

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Frequency of Maltreatment History

Type of Maltreatment

Males% (n)

Females% (n)

Physical 65.6% (267) 55.8% (227)

Psychological 56.9% (231) 63.1% (257)

Neglect 32.7% (133) 33.7% (137)

Witnessing 40.8% (166) 47.7% (194)

Any CCMS 80.6% (328) 79.6% (324)

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Maltreatment History among Males

67% 67%

54%

42%

66%

56%

31%

41%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Physical Psychological Neglect Witnessing

Civilian Partners (n=24) AR/NG Soldiers (n=383)

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Maltreatment History among Females

54%

63%

33%

47%

62%65%

36%

49%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Physical Psychological Neglect Witnessing

Civilian Partners (n=318) AR/NG Soldiers (n=89)

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Multi-type Maltreatment: Males

8%

21%

25% 25%

21%20%

22%

20%19% 19%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

No CCMS One Type Two Types Three Types All Four Types

Civilian Partners (n=24) AR/NG Soldiers (n=383)

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Multi-type Maltreatment: Females

21%

18%

25%

17%

20%19%

16%

21% 21%22%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

No CCMS One Type Two Types Three Types All Four Types

Civilian Partners (n=318) AR/NG Soldiers (n=89)

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CM Severity Among Males

USAR/NG Soldiers(n=383)

m (95% CI)

Civilian Partners (n=24)

m (95% CI)

Physical(0 – 36)

2.77 (2.42 – 3.11)

1.96(.95 – 2.97)

Psychological(0 – 36)

5.42 (4.92 – 5.92)

6.42 (4.43 – 8.40)

Neglect(0 – 36)

1.31(1.01 – 1.62)

1.42 (.60 – 2.23)

Witnessing (0 – 8)

1.04 (.87 – 1.21)

.71 (.29 – 1.13)

CCM Total10.52

(9.39 – 11.65)10.50

(6.97 – 14.03)

* p < .0519

CM Severity Among Females

* p < .05

USAR/NG Soldiers (n=89)

m (95% CI)

Civilian Partners(n=318)

m (95% CI)

Physical*(0 – 36)

3.30 (2.44 – 4.17)

2.13 (1.78 – 2.47)

Psychological(0 – 36)

7.03 (5.89 – 8.18)

6.21 (5.62 – 6.81)

Neglect(0 – 36)

1.69(1.00 – 2.37)

1.32 (1.00 – 1.65)

Witnessing*(0 – 8)

1.64 (1.14 – 2.14)

1.16 (.97 – 1.35)

CCM Total*13.66

(10.89 – 16.44)10.82

(9.59 – 12.06)

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Conclusions

• USAR/NG soldiers report similar past prevalence of

maltreatment compared to civilian partners

• Both soldiers and their civilian partners report high

frequency of multi-type maltreatment

• Female USAR/NG soldiers reported greater

maltreatment severity than civilian women

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Limitations

• Data are cross-sectional

• Small sample size for

male civilians

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Thank you….

NIDA R01 034072 to GGH

USAR/NG Soldiers and Families

US Army Human Protections Office

The Adjutant General

BN and Unit Commanders

Research Staff at Operation: SAFETY

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr_-

_The_U.S._Army_-_Welcome_home_hug.jpg

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Questions?

Corresponding Author:

Rachel C. Daws

Dept. of Community Health and Health Behavior

School of Public Health and Health Professions

State University of New York at Buffalo

rcdaws@buffalo.edu

716-829-4731

https://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/4166349808

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