Table 4.
Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) among women, 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 | 107 (27.5) | 3,593 (23.9) | .315 | 40 (16.0) | 2,472 (11.9) | .268 |
| Parental separation or divorce | 126 (27.7) | 4,301 (28.9) | .759 | 55 (11.7) | 2,823 (13.6) | .542 |
| Household drug use | 54 (17.0) | 1,876 (13.3) | .255 | 14 (2.1) | 597 (2.9) | .595 |
| Household alcohol abuse | 136 (33.9) | 4,314 (26.8) | .059 | 85 (29.2) | 4,136 (21.0) | .052 |
| Physical abuse | 112 (29.1)* | 2,989 (18.7) | .001 | 69 (23.5)* | 2,364 (12.1) | <.001 |
| Incarcerated household member | 27 (6.0) | 988 (7.2) | .469 | 9 (1.9) | 406 (2.2) | .782 |
| Exposure to domestic violence | 103 (26.5)* | 1,079 (18.0) | .009 | 61 (19.2)* | 2,247 (11.8) | .025 |
| Emotional abuse | 171 (43.3)* | 4,985 (31.6) | .004 | 94 (30.8)* | 4,018 (20.0) | .009 |
| Touched sexually | 93 (25.9)* | 2,644 (16.0) | .002 | 48 (16.4) | 2,188 (10.5) | .059 |
| Made to touch another sexually | 72 (15.8) | 1.905 (11.8) | .115 | 27 (10.7) | 1,279 (6.0) | .084 |
| Forced to have sex | 41 (10.2) | 1,085 (6.9) | .142 | 19 (6.1) | 705 (3.4) | .194 |
| Total number of ACE categories | ||||||
| 0 | 121 (30.7) | 5,178 (37.4) | .087 | 148 (41.4) | 9,609 (52.3) | .060 |
| 1 | 62 (17.1) | 3,195 (20.8) | 74 (21.1) | 4,091 (21.2) | ||
| 2 | 58 (12.3) | 2,051(13.0) | 39 (15.2) | 2,238 (11.7) | ||
| 3 | 50 (11.6) | 1,434 (8.5) | 28 (6.6) | 1,297 (6.1) | ||
| 4+ | 109 (28.3) | 3,062 (20.2) | 56 (15.6) | 1,810 (8.7) | ||
Note: Frequencies are unweighted; percentages are weighted; Hx=history
1
=Women 18 years old on or after 1973 (ages 18–55 years in 2010)
2
=Women older than 18 years in 1973 (ages ≥56 years in 2010)
*
=p<.05