The relationship between life adjustment and parental bonding in military personnel with adjustment disorder in Taiwan

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine the characteristics of military personnel with adjustment disorder to give them more appropriate treatment. The participants were 36 military personnel who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria of adjustment disorder as diagnosed by a psychiatrist at a teaching hospital in southern Taiwan. Another 24 persons were recruited as an age-matched control group. Each individual completed the clinical interview and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised and then completed the questionnaires, which included demographic information, the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, and the Chinese Health Questionnaire. We found statistically significant differences between the case and control groups in personality and parental bonding attitudes. Soldiers with higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, and maternal overprotection had an increased risk of suffering from adjustment disorder. The inclusion of family function and the military environment and such other factors as cultural variables is recommended for future study. The statistical approach of structural equation modeling also should be considered in future studies to determine competing risk factors and mediating effects.