Domestic Violence and Deployment in US Army Soldiers

Although military deployment has been suggested as a possible cause of increases in domestic violence, little is known about it. The purpose of this study was to determine if deployment of 6 months to Bosnia predicted early postdeployment domestic violence. Active duty recently deployed (N 313) and nondeployed (N 712) male soldiers volunteered to take an anonymous questionnaire. Deployment was not a significant predictor of postdeployment domestic violence. However, younger soldiers, those with predeployment domestic violence, nonwhite race, and off-post residence also were more likely to report postdeployment domestic violence. The predicted probability of postdeployment domestic violence for a deployed 20-year-old, nonwhite soldier with a history of predeployment domestic violence and who lives on-post was .20. For the soldier without a history of predeployment domestic violence, it was .05. Prevention and intervention programs for postdeployment domestic violence shortly after return should target age and persons with a domestic violence history rather than deployment per se.