Military and sociodemographic variables among Regular and Reserve Force members with an Afghanistan deployment and an identified mental disorder
| Characteristic | Regular Force personnel | Reserve Force personnel | Wald X2 p value | ||
| Sample n=603 Weighted n=5320 | Sample n=265 Weighted n=840 | ||||
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | ||
| Past-year mental health problems | |||||
| Comorbid disorders* | <0.001 | ||||
| MDE only | 20.4 | 17.3 to 23.4 | 19.5 | 16.0 to 23.1 | |
| PTSD only | 12.8 | 10.3 to 15.4 | 9.8 | 7.0 to 12.6 | |
| PD only | 7.9 | 5.8 to 10.0 | 7.3 | 5.1 to 9.5 | |
| GAD only | 7.2 | 5.3 to 9.0 | 4.9 | 3.0 to 6.8 | |
| Alcohol abuse only | 6 | 4.3 to 7.8 | 14.6 | 11.5 to 17.8 | |
| Alcohol dependence only | 3.4 | 2.0 to 4.8 | 7.3 | 5.1 to 9.5 | |
| PTSD and MDE | 5.7 | 4.0 to 7.4 | 4.9 | 2.7 to 7.0 | |
| PTSD and other | 10.6 | 8.2 to 13.0 | 9.8 | 7.0 to 12.5 | |
| PTSD, MDE, other | 12.8 | 10.3 to 15.3 | 9.8 | 7.0 to 12.5 | |
| Mix-no PTSD | 13.2 | 10.7 to 15.7 | 12.2 | 9.2 to 15.2 | |
| Individual mental health problems | |||||
| Any anxiety*† | 69.2 | 65.7 to 72.7 | 60 | 55.5 to 64.5 | <0.001 |
| Any MDE‡ | 50.8 | 47.0 to 54.5 | 45.2 | 40.7 to 49.8 | 0.080 |
| Any PTSD‡ | 42.5 | 38.8 to 46.3 | 37.5 | 33.0 to 42.0 | 0.063 |
| Any PD‡ | 27.5 | 24.0 to 30.9 | 22.5 | 18.8 to 26.2 | 0.055 |
| Any GAD* | 31.6 | 28.0 to 35.1 | 22 | 18.2 to 25.7 | <0.001 |
| Any alcohol abuse disorder* | 10.5 | 8.2 to 12.9 | 19.5 | 15.9 to 23.2 | <0.001 |
| Any alcohol dependence* | 7.9 | 5.9 to 9.9 | 12.2 | 9.1 to 15.3 | 0.011 |
| Any AUD* | 18.4 | 15.5 to 21.3 | 33.3 | 29.1 to 37.6 | <0.001 |
| Any suicidal ideation | 19.9 | 16.9 to 23.0 | 22 | 18.1 to 25.8 | 0.301 |
| No of mental health problems | 0.146 | ||||
| 1 | 57.9 | 54.2 to 61.6 | 61.9 | 57.5 to 66.3 | |
| ≥2 | 42.1 | 38.4 to 45.8 | 38.1 | 33.7 to 42.5 | |
| K-10 Distress Scale* | 0.004 | ||||
| ≤9 | 27.4 | 24.1 to 30.8 | 34.1 | 29.8 to 38.4 | |
| 10–14 | 28.9 | 25.5 to 32.4 | 22 | 18.2 to 25.7 | |
| 15–19 | 19.2 | 16.2 to 22.1 | 24.4 | 20.5 to 28.3 | |
| ≥20 | 24.4 | 21.2 to 27.7 | 19.5 | 15.9 to 23.2 | |
| Self-rated physical health | <0.001 | ||||
| Excellent, very good or good | 72.3 | 68.9 to 75.7 | 81 | 77.5 to 84.4 | |
| Fair or poor | 27.7 | 24.3 to 31.1 | 19 | 15.6 to 22.5 | |
| Self-rated mental health | 0.002 | ||||
| Excellent, very good or good | 43.2 | 39.5 to 47.0 | 52.4 | 47.8 to 56.9 | |
| Fair or poor | 56.8 | 53.0 to 60.5 | 47.6 | 43.1 to 52.2 | |
| Military and sociodemographic characteristics | |||||
| Sex* | 0.007 | ||||
| Male | 84.2 | 81.4 to 87.0 | 90.2 | 87.5 to 93.0 | |
| Female | 15.8 | 13.0 to 18.6 | 9.8 | 7.0 to 12.5 | |
| Age* | <0.001 | ||||
| 17–24 | 3.7 | 2.1 to 5.4 | 12.2 | 9.1 to 15.3 | |
| 25–34 | 35.2 | 31.8 to 38.6 | 46.3 | 41.9 to 50.8 | |
| 35–44 | 41.2 | 37.6 to 44.8 | 19.5 | 16.0 to 23.0 | |
| 45–60 | 19.9 | 17.1 to 22.6 | 22 | 18.6 to 25.3 | |
| Rank* | <0.001 | ||||
| JNCM | 55.6 | 55.0 to 56.3 | 58.5 | 58.0 to 59.1 | |
| SNCM | 33.1 | 32.5 to 33.7 | 26.8 | 26.4 to 27.3 | |
| Officer | 11.3 | 10.9 to 11.6 | 14.6 | 14.2 to 15.0 | |
| Service* | <0.001 | ||||
| Navy | 11.3 | 8.9 to 13.6 | 2.4 | 0.9 to 3.9 | |
| Army | 71.1 | 67.7 to 74.4 | 88.1 | 85.2 to 91.0 | |
| Air | 17.7 | 14.8 to 20.5 | 9.5 | 7.0 to 12.1 | |
| Marital status* | <0.001 | ||||
| Married/common | 66.5 | 63.0 to 70.1 | 51.2 | 46.8 to 55.6 | |
| Single | 20.3 | 17.3 to 23.3 | 39 | 34.7 to 43.4 | |
| Widowed, separated or divorced | 13.2 | 10.6 to 15.7 | 9.8 | 6.9 to 12.6 | |
| Education* | <0.001 | ||||
| <Secondary school grad | 6.4 | 4.5 to 8.3 | 2.4 | 1.0 to 3.9 | |
| Secondary school grad | 34.7 | 31.2 to 38.3 | 22 | 18.1 to 25.8 | |
| Some postsecondary | 9.1 | 6.9 to 11.2 | 12.2 | 9.3 to 15.1 | |
| Postsecondary grad | 49.8 | 46.2 to 53.5 | 63.4 | 59.1 to 67.7 | |
| Racial background‡ | 0.085 | ||||
| White | 90.9 | 88.8 to 93.1 | 85.7 | 82.7 to 88.7 | |
| Non-white | 5.3 | 3.6 to 7.0 | 9.5 | 6.9 to 12.1 | |
| Multiple | 3.8 | 2.4 to 5.2 | 4.8 | 3.1 to 6.5 | |
| Household income* | <0.001 | ||||
| <50K | 1.1 | 0.3 to 1.9 | 19 | 15.6 to 22.5 | |
| 50–69K | 20.7 | 17.7 to 23.7 | 14.3 | 11.0 to 17.5 | |
| 70–89K | 24.4 | 21.3 to 27.6 | 16.7 | 13.3 to 20.1 | |
| ≥90K | 53.8 | 50.1 to 57.4 | 50 | 45.7 to 54.3 | |
| Income difficulty | 0.177 | ||||
| Yes | 12.5 | 9.9 to 15.0 | 14.6 | 11.3 to 18.0 | |
| No | 87.5 | 85.0 to 90.1 | 85.4 | 82.0 to 88.7 | |
| Mental health training (in past 5 years) | |||||
| Predeployment | 58.3 | 54.7 to 62.0 | 63.4 | 59.0 to 67.8 | 0.112 |
| Postdeployment‡ | 66 | 62.5 to 69.5 | 70.7 | 66.6 to 74.9 | 0.040 |
*Regular and reserve force differ significantly (Wald X2 p≤0.05).
†Any of the following: GAD, PD or PTSD.
‡Regular and Reserve Force differ with marginal significance (Wald X2 0.05<p≤0.10).
AUD, alcohol use disorder (either alcohol abuse disorder or alcohol dependence disorder); GAD, generalised anxiety disorder; JNCM, junior non-commissioned member; MDE, major depressive episode; PD, panic disorder; PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; SNCM, senior non-commissioned member.