Table 2.
Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) among men, by military history and service era
| All-volunteer Era1 | Draft Era2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military Hx n (%) | No Military Hx n (%) | p | Military Hx n (%) | No Military Hx n (%) | p | |
|
| ||||||
| Individual ACE items | ||||||
| Household mental illness | 269 (23.3)* | 1,418 (15.2) | <.001 | 493 (6.8) | 626 (8.4) | .071 |
| Parental separation or divorce | 538 (38.5)* | 2,240 (25.9) | <.001 | 955 (13.9) | 799 (12.1) | .164 |
| Household drug use | 218 (18.5)* | 1,033 (11.5) | <.001 | 188 (2.1)* | 279 (3.3) | .003 |
| Household alcohol abuse | 473 (34.3)* | 1,953 (19.4) | <.001 | 1,211 (17.1) | 1,094 (16.1) | .448 |
| Physical abuse | 396 (29.1)* | 1,514 (15.7) | <.001 | 936 (13.7) | 804 (14.2) | .696 |
| Incarcerated household member | 129 (12.3)* | 609 (8.0) | .016 | 161 (2.3) | 160 (2.2) | .934 |
| Exposure to domestic violence | 375 (27.3)* | 1,349 (13.8) | <.001 | 843 (12.1) | 711 (12.0) | .896 |
| Emotional abuse | 620 (43.0)* | 2,752 (30.3) | <.001 | 1,358 (19.9) | 1,346 (22.3) | .089 |
| Touched sexually | 138 (11.0)* | 443 (4.8) | <.001 | 365 (4.4) | 315 (5.2) | .320 |
| Made to touch another sexually | 116 (9.6)* | 390 (4.2) | <.001 | 240 (3.1) | 245 (3.6) | .361 |
| Forced to have sex | 62 (3.7)* | 177 (1.6) | <.001 | 106 (1.1) | 104 (1.5) | .239 |
| Total number of ACE categories | ||||||
| 0 | 455 (26.6)* | 3,535 (42.3) | <.001 | 3,362 (53.5) | 2,829 (52.4) | .962 |
| 1 | 321 (22.4) | 2,045 (23.8) | 1,532 (23.4) | 1,344 (24.0) | ||
| 2 | 214 (14.4) | 1,185 (12.2) | 744 (11.3) | 739 (11.7) | ||
| 3 | 155 (9.3) | 842 (8.8) | 386 (5.5) | 386 (5.4) | ||
| 4 | 354 (27.3) | 1,197 (12.9) | 494 (6.3) | 440 (6.5) | ||
Note: Frequencies are unweighted; percentages are weighted; Hx=history
1
= Men 18 years old on or after 1973 (ages 18–55 years in 2010)
2
= Men older than 18 years in 1973 (ages ≥56 years in 2010)