An Event History Analysis of First-Term Soldier Attrition

The study of attrition has largely focused on identifying demographic or biographic characteristics that predict whether soldiers complete their enlistment term. As a result, much is known about who attrites. Less is known about why soldiers attrite. This research assessed the influence of two psychological factors on U.S. Army soldier attrition: self-reported confidence that one could complete one’s term of service and ambivalence regarding the decision to enlist. The study sample consisted of first-term enlisted soldiers (N = 14,808) who were respondents to Army surveys. Results of fitting three longitudinal models indicated that confidence in being able to complete one’s term of obligation was more predictive of attrition for those reporting greater ambivalence regarding the decision to enlist. This effect was significant throughout a 3-year period. This work adds to our understanding of attrition by highlighting the role of confidence and ambivalence. Implications for strategies to reduce attrition are discussed.     

The Role of the Military Psychologist in the Development of National Manpower Policy

Recently, the news media have been critical of military recruitment advertising for its purported emphasis on money for education, civilian job/career development, and personal growth and for its deemphasis of the potential for mobilization and deployment. To examine the implications of these asser- tions, we studied new Army Reserve entrants both before and after Operation Desert Storm (ODs). Specifically, our purposes were (a) to summarize enlistment motivations of new recruits; (b) to identify subpopulations that joined the Army Reserve for specific motivations and variations of those motivations; and (c) to examine the relationships between enlistment motiva- tions, expectations for mobilization, and willingness to report for mobiliza- tion. The study employed two samples of nonprior service, junior-ranking enlistees who had served 1 year or less in the unit. One sample was drawn in 1990 before ODs (n = 1,059) and the other was drawn in 1991 following ODs (n = 757). Both samples were part of a larger probability sample of reservists. Enlistment motivations both before and after ODs were best explained (in order of variance accounted for in factor analyses) by the following factors: Wanting to Experience the Military, Personal Development, Pay/Benefits, and Job/Career Development. Wanting to Experience the Military accounted for more variance after ODs than before, whereas the variance attributable to Personal Development decreased across the two time periods. After ODS, there was a notable absence of college students who joined due to the first three factors. In addition, junior enlistees who joined for Pay/Benefits after ODs were more likely to be married, of a lower educational level, and not attending high school than those who joined before ODs. Both before and after ODs, minorities were more likely than nonminorities to join for each of Requests for reprints should be sent to James Griffith, 24435 Cutsail Drive, Damascus, MD 20872. the enlistment motivations, especially to gain JobKareer Development. Two findings supported the contention that new entrants to the Army Reserve joined and planned to stay through the end of their obligation, mobilization or not. First, career intent (the intention to remain in or leave the Army Reserve) was most strongly related to nearly all enlistment motivations. Second, expectations for mobilization and willingness to report for mobiliza- tion were either significantly and positively or nonsignificantly related to enlistment motivations. Implications of findings for future directions in Army Reserve recruitment incentives are discussed.     

The effects of attrition on baseline comparability in randomized experiments in education: a meta-analysis

Using meta-analysis, randomized experiments in education that either clearly did or clearly did not experience student attrition were examined for the baseline comparability of groups. Results from 35 studies suggested that after attrition, the observed measures of baseline comparability of groups did not differ more than would be expected given sampling error. The degree of either overall or differential attrition did not relate to baseline comparability, a finding that held under sensitivity analyses. Also, both overall and differential attrition rates were unrelated to posttest effect sizes. All of these analyses, however, lacked sufficient statistical power to detect small but potentially meaningful effects. Results suggest caution is warranted when applying quality scales and other blanket rules pertaining to attrition that are meant to either serve as inclusion-exclusion criteria or in scoring study quality. Much greater attention is needed to both the reporting of attrition in primary studies and to the development of conceptual and empirical models of the attrition process. These developments would aid further investigation of the relation between attrition and study outcomes.     

Mental Disorders,Comorbidity, and Pre‐enlistment Suicidal Behavior Among New Soldiers in the U.S. Army: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS)

We examined the associations between mental disorders and suicidal behavior (ideation, plans, and attempts) among new soldiers using data from the New Soldier Study (NSS) component of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS; N = 38,507). Most new soldiers with a pre‐enlistment history of suicide attempt reported a prior mental disorder (59.0%). Each disorder examined was associated with increased odds of suicidal behavior (ORs = 2.6–8.6). Only PTSD and disorders characterized by irritability and impulsive/aggressive behavior (i.e., bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder) predicted unplanned attempts among ideators. Mental disorders are important predictors of pre‐enlistment suicidal behavior among new soldiers and should figure prominently in suicide screening and prevention efforts.     

The Fate of School Dropouts in the Marine Corps

A group of 3,731 marines on whom age and educational status at enlistment were available were studied. At the end of two years of active duty, subjects were classed as Non-success if they presented evidence of unsatisfactory adjustment to the Corps. All other subjects were classed as Success. The Success rates of different classes of subjects by educational grouping are shown. The hypothesis that subjects who complete high school before enlistment have higher Success rates than do those who drop out of school, and that, of the dropouts, those completing their education after enlistment have a higher Success rate than those who do not complete their education, was supported.     

The Army's New Unit Personnel Replacement and Its Relationship to Unit Cohesion and Social Support

A recent concern of the U.S. Army's top leadership has been the deterioration of morale and cohesion in combat arms units. High personnel turnover in U.S. Army units has been viewed as a primary factor contributing to decreased unit cohesiveness. The current and traditional U.S. Army Indi- vidual Replacement (IR) System trained, assigned, and deployed soldiers to units as individuals. As a result, IR units have had as much as 45% personnel turnover annually. The new Unit Replacement (UR) System trained, assigned, and deployed soldiers as intact groups for the entire first-term soldier's enlistment. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of unit replacement on cohesion and to elaborate on the function of cohesion by examining the relationship between cohesion and social support in a sample of 3,245 soldiers in 43 line companies matched by type of replacement, type of combat arms, and stateside/overseas deployment. Soldiers in UR units in which soldiers had previously undergone Basic and Advanced Individual Training together or had their personnel stabilized reported a significantly higher level of cohesion than did soldiers in IR units. This difference persisted even when personal and unit characteristics were held constant in compari- sons. In terms of social support, UR soldiers cited more support providers in their units than did IR soldiers. Perceived satisfaction with social support and perceived helpfulness of social support provided by unit members were significantly and positively correlated with the cohesion measures, irrespective of the type of replacement. Whereas reciprocity was significantly and positively related to cohesion in commonly trained UR and IR units, it was nonsignificantly related to cohesion in personnel-stabilized UR units. Impli- cations of results for the expected effects of cohesion on the quality of interpersonal relations among unit members are discussed.     

Nontraditional careers for women: A prototypical example

A nationwide survey of a stratified sample of 461 Army ROTC college cadets and 470 of their non-ROTC schoolmates was conducted in order to investigate sex and racial differences in military-related perceptions and attitudes. This article focuses on survey findings dealing with sex differences in respondents' military socialization, knowledge of ROTC and the Army, attitudes toward ROTC and the Army, and behavioral intentions with respect to a military career. Female cadets had (1) fewer military socializing influences, (2) less accurate knowledge about ROTC and the Army, (3) more favorable attitudes toward ROTC and the Army, and (4) less favorable intentions regarding military service than male cadets. Findings 2, 3, and 4 were also obtained in the noncadet schoolmate group; however, in this group, there were no significant sex differences in military socializing influences. A model based on these findings is developed as a starting point for attempts to account for the higher attrition rates of women in the military.     

Hardiness and Personality as Predictors of Military Enlistment Intention among the Indian Youths

The present study examines the role of hardiness and personality factors in predicting youth’s enlistment intention towards Indian defence services. The participants were (n?=?2500) higher secondary school students from the four states (TamilNadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh). The youth with high intention to join army scored higher on the measures of hardiness construct and two personality dimensions i.e. Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Furthermore, results of logistic analysis confirmed that the hardiness and personality factors significantly predicted the enlistment intentions of youth. The implications for recruitment of youths for the Defence Services are discussed.     

Pilot test of a measure to assess clients’ perceptions of their home visitors

Home visiting services for caregivers of infants and young children have been found to be an effective method for promoting child development. Unfortunately, such services suffer from high rates of attrition, suggesting the need to identify factors related to client retention in services. Research has indicated that the client-provider relationship is an important predictor of client retention in home visiting services; however, measures to assess this relationship are limited. This study reports on a pilot test of the Client Perceptions of Home Visitors Questionnaire, developed to assess home visiting clients’ perceptions of their relationship with their home visitor. The measure was completed by 39 diverse home visiting clients during pregnancy in a midwestern town in the United States. The scale was found to have good internal consistency. Validity analyses found that the scale was positively associated with client satisfaction with services and perceived provider cultural sensitivity. The scale was also positively associated with retention in services at an 8-month follow-up. Additional research should examine the measure's psychometrics with larger samples.     

Validity of Selection/ Classification Variables for Performance in Three Navy Ratings

This study examined speed of advancement and score on a job knowledge test as job performance criteria in the validation of selection and classification variables for three Navy ratings. Longitudinal samples spanning a 4-year period were drawn for men in radioman, machinist's mate, and hospital corpsman ratings who, within their first enlistment, advanced to E-4 by means of the Navy competitive advancement system. Validity coefficients for Navy enlisted selection and classification variables (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery [ASVAB] and education) were computed for personnel in each rating, subgrouped by entry pay grade. Validity coefficients for the job knowledge test were high by historical standards, and the effects were highest for the subgroups with the highest selection standards. Validity coefficients for the advancement criterion were much lower. Advancement, the criterion that appeared to have the greater face validity, was not as good a measure of job performance as the job knowledge test. The criteria were predicted much better by mental ability than by level of education variables. Personnel who enlisted at E-2 and E-3 pay grades spent substantially more time working at the journeyman performance level during their first enlistment than did personnel who enlisted at E-1.     

The Profession of Family Therapy in South Korea: Current Status and Future Directions

The authors present a brief overview of the family therapy field in South Korea. Since its introduction in the late 1970s, family therapy has been developing into a professional field with education and training institutions, practice settings, credentials, and practitioners holding memberships in various professional organizations. While such issues as family values and types, filial piety, violence, interethnic marriage, and social polarization have resulted in an increased demand for family therapy, such services are not readily accessible to Korean families in need. Efforts should be made in increasing number of competent family therapists by strengthening both academic and clinical requirements for credentialing. Efforts are also needed in increasing accessibility of family therapy services by making them more available within a variety of human service contexts.     

Studies involving fathers: Subject refusal, attrition and sampling bias

The reported rates of subject refusal and attrition are reviewed in those studies where data were collected directly from fathers. Only 34 per cent of such studies report on subject refusal rates and 36 per cent on attrition rates. Few studies comment on or give information that would allow an assessment to be made of sampling bias arising from subject refusal and attrition. Nevertheless, studies reporting subject refusal and attrition suggest that fathers are no more difficult to recruit than mothers and that a variety of factors, individually and in combination, may have some impact on recruitment. These include the type of commitment required, the techniques of recruitment used and whether studies are hospital, home or laboratory based. However, if biases due to subject refusal and attrition are to be identified and avoided, studies need to be more open in providing information about the characteristics of refusing and participating subjects. To encourage this, some new data are presented, suggesting a number of trends: (1) extended personal contacts with potential subjects may minimize subject refusal and attrition; (2) attrition may be somewhat higher in middle-class families and families with sons.     

Child Care Use,Earnings, and Reenlistment Desires of Wives of Enlisted Soldiers in the U. S. Army

The U S . Army manages more than 600 Child Development Centers and about 12,000 Army-licensed Family Care Homes with a daily attendance of more than 80,000 children. This article analyzes use of child care services in relation to Army wives' earnings, their satisfaction with Army life, and their desire for their husbands' reenlistment in the Army. Data for wives (n = 1,007) of enlisted soldiers from a 1987 U.S. Department of the Army Survey of Families were used to estimate a system of four simultaneous equations. These data were comparable with similar data collected in 1992. Results revealed that the first criterion variable of child care use was associated positively with the wives' earnings and negatively with the age of the youngest child. The second criterion variable of wives' earnings was related positively to the use of child care services. The third criterion variable of wives' satisfaction with Army life, however, related negatively to their dissatisfaction with the cost of Army child care services. The fourth criterion variable of the wives' satisfaction with Army life was related positively to their desires for their husbands' reenlistment in the Army. Other studies suggest that a wife's desire for her husband's reenlistment has a great influence on his decision to stay. Therefore, the military policy makers might increase Army wives' satisfaction with Army life by lessening dissatisfaction with the cost of child care services, perhaps by reducing user charges for them.     

Race and General Cognitive Ability: The Myth of Diminishing Returns to Education

The impact of education on racial differences in general cognitive ability was assessed using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. To control for attrition during the educational process, we compared the scores of individuals who ultimately attained the same level of education but who were tested at different points in their educational careers. Multiple regression analyses revealed that education can have a strong positive effect on cognitive ability in both whites and blacks. Whites benefited more from education than blacks during the high school years, but blacks benefited much more than whites from a college education, substantially narrowing the gap between the races. These findings contradict the hypothesis that racial differences in intelligence are relatively immutable, in part because of the diminishing returns from increases in education.     

HIV Testing Experience and Risk Behavior Among Sexually Active Black Young Adults: A CBPR-Based Study Using Respondent-Driven Sampling in Durham,North Carolina

African Americans are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic inclusive of men who have sex with men, heterosexual men, and women. As part of a community‐based participatory research study we assessed HIV testing experience among sexually active 18–30 year old Black men and women in Durham, NC. Of 508 participants, 173 (74 %) men and 236 (86 %; p = 0.0008) women reported ever being tested. Barriers to testing (e.g., perceived risk and stigma) were the same for men and women, but men fell behind mainly because a primary facilitator of testing—routine screening in clinical settings—was more effective at reaching women. Structural and behavioral risk factors associated with HIV infection were prevalent but did not predict HIV testing experience. Reduced access to health care services for low income Black young adults may exacerbate HIV testing barriers that already exist for men and undermine previous success rates in reaching women.     

Longitudinal Evaluation of a Preparation Program for Mandatory Military Service

This multivariate longitudinal study explored the relative contribution of 12th-grade students' (a) participation in a preparation program for mandatory military service, (b) feelings of adjustment at high school, and (c) perceptions of school climate to their evaluation of the program's impact on them, as well as to their later adjustment to military service. The sample included 247 male and female 12th graders, divided into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group participated in a 10-meeting preparation program focusing on the enhancement of empowerment feelings regarding entrance into military service. We conducted measurements at three points in time: (a) before exposure to the preparation program, (b) after exposure to the preparation program, and (c) 6–12 months after military enlistment. Research findings supported the notion that the preparation program had a short-term impact on students' feelings of preparedness for military service. Activities in which students were directly exposed to military life or to Army representatives gained more positive evaluations. But some of the activities conducted by school staff were also positively related to the overall evaluation of the program's contribution to preparedness. However, in the long run, students' later military adjustment was not related to participation in the preparation program but rather to their pre-intervention attitudes toward military enlistment as well as their preliminary general feeling of adjustment. Altogether, study findings indicate that the preparation program had a positive impact mainly for those students who manage well in high school before enlistment. Hence, it is suggested that efforts to foster school-to-Army transition should unfold in a three-step process: (a) preliminary screening for maladaptive behavior, (b) pre-enlistment preparation, and (c) post-enlistment support to all recruits.     

Labour market outcomes of immigrant and racial minority university graduates in Canada

Between 1986 and 1996 there has been a significant increase in the racial minority and immigrant populations of Canada and a very significant proportion of racial minorities are of immigrant origin. With the aging of the Canadian population and its persistently low fertility rates the success of the Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) is expected to depend on the economic integration of immigrant racial minorities. In this paper, we frame the discussion of economic integration from a social inequality perspective, and examine how fields of study (FOS) and education credentials impact the earnings of immigrant racial minorities. Our analysis indicates that, in all fields of study, the earnings of immigrant visible minorities, especially those who migrated at an older age to Canada with foreign credentials, are not commensurate with their education level. This suggests that the adjustment mechanisms that have been introduced to recognize the credentials of young adult racial minority immigrants and smooth their entry into the work force have been inadequate and/or ineffective.     

Soldiers at risk for individual readiness or morale problems during a six-month peacekeeping deployment to the Sinai

Longitudinal data were examined to predict soldiers' morale, satisfaction with Army life, and the effects of family issues on performance of duties during an overseas deployment (Sinai peacekeeping force during the spring of 1995). Few variables were significant predictors of the outcome measures; however, rank, leaders' support for families, prior satisfaction with Army life and with information released about the deployment appeared to predict better outcomes during the deployment. Rank and leaders' support for families appeared to be more important for married soldiers while satisfaction with predeployment information seemed to be more important for single soldiers. Those who were worried about the effects of the deployment on their families also tended to report interference with their duty performance because of family concerns, but that effect was offset by perceived leaders' concern for families. In conclusion, it appears to the authors that the pre-existing factors studied had much less to do with deployment outcomes than did leadership success before and during the deployment. That's good news for Army leaders about their power to have a positive effect on soldiers' morale during overseas deployments but may be bad news for anyone hoping to find a "magic bullet" for pre-identification of soldiers most likely to retain high morale, regardless of their leadership's competence during an overseas deployment.     

The Acceptability of Computer-Aided Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: A Pragmatic Study

The clinical and cost-effectiveness of a computer-aided cognitive behavioural therapy (CCBT) programme, Beating the Blues, is indicated by a number of studies, but relatively little is known about its acceptability for patients with depression, anxiety, or both. This study investigated the acceptability of Beating the Blues offered on eight scheduled clinic visits with brief face-to-face support. Pre and posttreatment measures explored the relationship among programme acceptability, treatment continuation, and outcomes for people accessing the programme in routine care. Two hundred and nineteen patients with depression, anxiety, or both were offered Beating the Blues in 11 primary and secondary care practices. One hundred and ninety-one (87%) completed the pretreatment measures and 84 (38%) completed a treatment feedback questionnaire. Analysis of treatment acceptability for CCBT indicated a positive patient experience with the programme. Pretreatment expectancies predicted CCBT treatment completion but not outcomes. No differences were found between men and women on pretreatment measures. Posttreatment, women reported more favourable responses to the therapy, finding the programme more helpful and more satisfactory, than did men. No relationship between treatment acceptability and age was found. Study limitations, including research methods and attrition rates, and implications for future research are discussed. It is concluded that the Beating the Blues CCBT programme is an acceptable treatment for common mental health problems in routine care.     

Differential attrition in health behaviour change trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Attrition is a common problem in health behaviour change (HBC) trials. When the degree of attrition differs between treatment conditions, then this is called differential attrition and is regarded as a major threat to internal validity. The primary research question of this study was: how often and to what degree does differential attrition occur in HBC trials?

Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis of a random selection of HBC trials (k = 60). We meta-analysed the relative attrition rates using a random-effects model and examined the relationship between the relative attrition rates and the potential moderators: the amount of human contact in delivery and the intensity of the intervention/control condition, the type of control condition, and the follow-up intensity and duration.

Main outcome measures: Relative attrition rates.

Results: The average attrition rate was 18% (SD = .15; M = .15) in the intervention and 17% (SD = .13; M = .13) in the control conditions. The estimated average relative attrition rate was 1.10 (95% CI: 1.01–1.20, p = .02), suggesting an overall higher attrition rate of 10% in the intervention conditions. This relative attrition rate was not related to any of the potential moderators.

Conclusion: There is indication of a slightly higher amount of attrition on average in the intervention conditions of HBC trials.