Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, PO23, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2012 Aug;47(8):1353-8. doi: 10.1007/s00127-011-0443-z. Epub 2011 Oct 29.
Concern has been raised over alleged increases in antisocial behaviour by military personnel returning from the deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S.-based research has shown that post-deployment violence is related not only to combat experience, but also to pre-enlistment antisocial behaviour (ASB). This study aimed to examine the association between pre-enlistment ASB and later behavioural outcomes, including aggression, in a large randomly selected U.K. military cohort.
Baseline data from a cohort study of 10,272 U.K. military personnel in service at the time of the Iraq war in 2003 were analysed. The associations between pre-enlistment ASB and a range of socio-demographic and military variables were examined as potential confounders. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the relationship between pre-enlistment ASB and military behavioural outcomes such as severe alcohol use, violence/aggression and risk-taking behaviour, controlling for confounders.
18.1% were defined as having displayed pre-enlistment ASB. Pre-enlistment ASB was significantly associated with factors such as younger age, low educational achievement, male gender, non-officer rank, Army personnel, being a regular, increasing time spent on the deployment and having a combat role. Pre-enlistment ASB was associated with increased risk of negative behavioural outcomes (severe alcohol misuse, outbursts of anger or irritability, fighting or assaultative behaviour and risk-taking behaviour), after controlling for confounders, suggesting that such background information may identify individuals who are more vulnerable to subsequent behavioural disturbance.
The results of this study suggest that those already demonstrating ASB prior to joining the military are more likely to continue on this trajectory, thus emphasising the importance of considering pre-enlistment behaviour when exploring the aetiology of aggression in military personnel.
有人担心从伊拉克和阿富汗部署归来的军人的反社会行为有所增加。基于美国的研究表明，部署后的暴力不仅与战斗经历有关，还与入伍前的反社会行为（ASB）有关。本研究旨在检查入伍前 ASB 与英国军事队列中后来的行为结果（包括攻击性）之间的关联。
对 2003 年伊拉克战争期间在役的 10272 名英国军人队列研究的基线数据进行了分析。检查了入伍前 ASB 与一系列社会人口统计学和军事变量之间的关联，作为潜在的混杂因素。进行逻辑回归分析，以检查入伍前 ASB 与军事行为结果（如严重饮酒、暴力/攻击性和冒险行为）之间的关系，同时控制混杂因素。
18.1%的人被定义为有入伍前 ASB。入伍前 ASB 与年龄较小、教育程度较低、男性、非军官级别、陆军人员、正规军、部署时间增加和有战斗角色等因素显著相关。在控制混杂因素后，入伍前 ASB 与负面行为结果（严重酗酒、愤怒或烦躁爆发、打架或攻击性行为以及冒险行为）的风险增加相关，这表明这种背景信息可能会识别出更容易受到后续行为障碍影响的个体。
本研究结果表明，那些在入伍前已经表现出 ASB 的人更有可能继续沿着这条轨迹发展，因此强调了在探索军事人员攻击性的病因时，考虑入伍前行为的重要性。
