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Gender and Marital Status in the Military: Implications for Understanding Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Symptoms

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War and Family Life

Part of the book series: Risk and Resilience in Military and Veteran Families ((RRMV))

Abstract

Marital status and gender are two demographic characteristics with relevance for understanding risk for social and psychological difficulties such as mental health problems and intimate partner violence. This is particularly true in military populations where resources and social support may vary among the subgroups of single male servicemembers, single female servicemembers, married male servicemembers, and single female servicemembers. Identifying differences in risk for mental health symptoms and intimate partner violence can in turn, inform development of programs targeting these different subgroups based on their specific needs. In this chapter, we review the literature on marital status and gender with respect to mental health problems and intimate partner violence and present new findings on relative risk for these groups in active duty military samples. Specific findings and their implications for interventions are discussed.

Material has been reviewed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. The views expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the US Army Medical Command or the Department of Defense.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), US Army Medical Research Unit – Europe, Sembach, Germany

    Heather M. Foran Ph.D., Kathleen M. Wright Ph.D. & Jeffrey L. Thomas Ph.D.

  2. Department of Psychology & Education, Ulm University, Sembach, Germany

    Heather M. Foran Ph.D.

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  1. Heather M. Foran Ph.D.
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  2. Kathleen M. Wright Ph.D.
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  3. Jeffrey L. Thomas Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Heather M. Foran Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Purdue University, Military Family Research Institute, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

    Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth

  2. Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    David S. Riggs

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Foran, H.M., Wright, K.M., Thomas, J.L. (2016). Gender and Marital Status in the Military: Implications for Understanding Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Symptoms. In: MacDermid Wadsworth, S., Riggs, D. (eds) War and Family Life. Risk and Resilience in Military and Veteran Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21488-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21488-7_11

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