Recollections of conflict with parents and family support in the personality disorders.

This study examined the relationships between personality disorders and retrospective reports of family support and conflict with parents. Participants were 798 United States Air Force recruits who were participating in a larger program of research on the peer assessment of personality disorders. Correlational analyses revealed consistent but modest associations between personality disorder features and both measures of family adversity. Borderline, antisocial, and paranoid features maintained small, unique associations after controlling for the general component of personality disorder. Further analyses, however, showed that differences among the correlations between personality disorder traits and family adversity measures account for little explained variance. In general, it does not appear that individual personality disorders have unique relations with retrospective reports of family adversity. Instead, the relation between personality disorders and family adversity seems to depend on a component common to all personality disorders.

Predicting outcome of military basic training for individuals referred for psychological evaluation.

We examined outcome data for 632 U.S. Air Force personnel who were referred for psychological evaluation during Basic Military Training (BMT) but who were subsequently returned to BMT to determine what proportion graduated. We analyzed motivational, biographical, and psychological testing variables, using logistic regression to develop a model predictive of training outcome. The results demonstrated that a relatively small number of variables could predict outcome with close to 70% accuracy. Level of optimism regarding training, history of physical abuse, and frequency of visits to the trainee health clinic were major contributors to the model. MMPI-2 (Hathaway & McKinley, 1989) Scales D and Sc also remained in the model but added little to its power. The findings are generally consistent with prior research on normal military populations, except that some factors previously linked to adjustment, such as sex and ethnicity, were found to be unrelated to training outcome in this population.

Predicting discharge from Airforce basic training by pattern of affect.

We compared the efficacy of the state form of the MAACL-R (Zuckerman & Lubin, 1985) in predicting success in Air Force basic training. Results of discriminant functions analyses showed that the Anxiety, Depression, Hostility, Positive Affect, and Sensation Seeking scales of the state MAACL-R efficiently predicted success in basic training. The need to incorporate state measures into studies of prediction is discussed.

Mood as a predictor of discharge from Air Force basic training.

In order to determine the predictive validity of the Total Mood score, the Negative Mood Scale, and the Positive Mood Scale of the ST-Depression Adjective Check Lists (ST-DACL), the state version of lists C and D of the ST-DACL was administered on the second day of the Air Force basic training program to 229 newly enlisted Air Force recruits (men = 113; women = 116). Findings were that DACL total score yielded the best overall classification rate, the Positive Mood Scale was most related to predicting eventual discharge, and the Negative Mood Scale was best at predicting graduation.

Is weight gain after smoking cessation inevitable?

Weight gain after smoking cessation was studied in a naturalistic setting where (1) all smokers quit and (b) risk factors for postcessation weight gain were modified. Participants were 332 military recruits (227 men, 105 women), 86 of whom were smokers who quit during 6 weeks of basic training. Results showed no significant weight changes for smokers who quit. Pretest smoking rates and feat of weight gain were unrelated to changes in weight. Results suggest that an intensive program that limits access to alcohol and foods that are high in fat and that increases physical activity can attenuate weight gain after smoking cessation.

Childhood physical and sexual abuse and failure to complete military basic training.

Forty percent of a group of 25 military basic trainees discharged from training for mental health reasons admitted histories of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. In a control group of 25 successful trainees, only 1 gave a history of abuse. Consistent with published studies of childhood abuse in psychiatric patient samples, women in our discharge group were more likely to report abuse histories than men. Perpetrators were usually reported as non-biological male family members of the respective victims. The authors conclude that adult survivors of childhood abuse appear to be less able to tolerate the stresses of military basic training, and discuss the need for identifying and therapeutically assisting these individuals during their training.

Development and current status of USAF mental health screening.

Early detection and appropriate disposition of non-adaptable military recruits has been a concern of the military for many years. In the 1950s and 1960s, various branches of the military conducted large studies searching for accurate, cost-effective ways to predict which recruits could and could not adapt to military training. In the 1970s, research in this area spawned the development of the Air Force Medical Evaluation Test (AFMET), the three-phase mental health screening process used by the Air Force today. This article briefly reviews the development of AFMET, and presents current data supporting its utility and effectiveness.