Post-deployment indicators of single soldiers' well-being

Abstract

The civilian literature indicates that married individuals generally have better health than others; but little is known as to whether this also applies to soldiers. Using a sample of 4,346 soldiers surveyed 3-4 months after Iraq deployments, we examined three perspectives that explain the advantage of the married (social causation and social selection hypotheses, and crisis theory). We divided single soldiers into two groups - never married and previously married - and compared their well-being to married soldiers using logistic regression (adjusting for age, gender, rank, parental status, education, and combat exposure). Findings show that previously married soldiers are more likely than married soldiers to report poor well-being. Never married soldiers are generally comparable to married soldiers, but report more risky behaviors. Tentative evidence was found to support both the social causation and social selection hypotheses; however, longitudinal data is needed to fully assess crisis theory and for more definitive conclusions across perspectives. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.