Abstract : In this report, we present the findings from the 1995 Department of Defense (DoD) Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel, conducted by the Research Triangle Institute of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. We describe substance use, health behaviors related to selected Healthy People 2000 subjects (Public Health Service (PHS), 1991), and progress since 1980 toward achieving health-related goals set forth by the DoD. For this report, 'substance use' includes use of alcohol, other drugs, and tobacco (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and pipes and cigars). This study is the sixth in a series of surveys of military personnel across the world conducted in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992, and 1995 under the guidance of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs or OAsD(HA). Ml of the surveys have assessed the prevalence of alcohol use, drug use, and tobacco use; adverse consequences associated with substance use; and since 1982, trends in substance use and related adverse consequences of use. Beginning in 1985, the surveys examined the effect of health behaviors other than substance use on the quality of life of military personnel. In 1988, this emphasis was expanded and oriented around the DoD health promotion objectives and provided information about knowledge of and attitudes toward the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 1992, in collaboration with the DoD and the Services, we broadened this aspect of the survey even further to give greater emphasis to health risks, knowledge and beliefs about MDS transmission, and nutrition, as well as other special issues, including the impact of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm on substance use rates and the effects of problem gambling in the Military.

Abstract : In this report, we present the findings from the 1995 Department of Defense (DoD) Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel, conducted by the Research Triangle Institute of Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. We describe substance use, health behaviors related to selected Healthy People 2000 subjects (Public Health Service (PHS), 1991), and progress since 1980 toward achieving health-related goals set forth by the DoD. For this report, 'substance use' includes use of alcohol, other drugs, and tobacco (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and pipes and cigars). This study is the sixth in a series of surveys of military personnel across the world conducted in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1992, and 1995 under the guidance of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs or OAsD(HA). Ml of the surveys have assessed the prevalence of alcohol use, drug use, and tobacco use; adverse consequences associated with substance use; and since 1982, trends in substance use and related adverse consequences of use. Beginning in 1985, the surveys examined the effect of health behaviors other than substance use on the quality of life of military personnel. In 1988, this emphasis was expanded and oriented around the DoD health promotion objectives and provided information about knowledge of and attitudes toward the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In 1992, in collaboration with the DoD and the Services, we broadened this aspect of the survey even further to give greater emphasis to health risks, knowledge and beliefs about MDS transmission, and nutrition, as well as other special issues, including the impact of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm on substance use rates and the effects of problem gambling in the Military.

Some previous research with Vietnam combat veterans has found a relationship to subsequent development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and involvement in violent behavior. The relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to violence have not been studied in nonveteran samples. This article reports the relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to violence in a sample of 1140 incarcerated male felons, most of whom did not develop PTSD or its symptoms from a combat-related traumatic stressor event. A relationship of PTSD and its symptoms to arrest and incarceration for expressive violence is found when demographic, antisocial personality, and problem drinking factors are controlled. For the large majority of those who experienced at least one PTSD symptom and had an arrest history for expressive violence, the PTSD symptom preceded or occurred in the same year as the violence arrest. This temporal ordering is consistent with viewing PTSD symptoms as etiologically relevant to the occurrence of violence.