The role of military service in preventing depression in China: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
Despite recognition in the West that military veterans experience more mental health issues than the general population, little research has focused on this subject in China. This study examined the associations between male veterans’ military experience and depression in China.
Methods
A sample of 12,914 men including 669 veterans was included in the final analysis and propensity score matching, multivariable regressions and fixed effect model were used.
Results
The military experience was associated with a lower likelihood of depression in male veterans. In the subgroup analysis, military experience was associated with a lower likelihood of depression among married and urban male veterans. Military experience was also associated with a lower likelihood of depression in both “junior college and above” and “below junior college” groups. In contrast, evidence was lacking regarding the associations between military experience and depression for unmarried and rural veterans.
Conclusions
Individual characteristics could influence the relationship between military experience and depression in male veterans, and the mental health of veterans should be paid more attention and guaranteed.
Despite recognition in the West that military veterans experience more mental health issues than the general population, little research has focused on this subject in China. This study examined the associations between male veterans’ military experience and depression in China.
Methods
A sample of 12,914 men including 669 veterans was included in the final analysis and propensity score matching, multivariable regressions and fixed effect model were used.
Results
The military experience was associated with a lower likelihood of depression in male veterans. In the subgroup analysis, military experience was associated with a lower likelihood of depression among married and urban male veterans. Military experience was also associated with a lower likelihood of depression in both “junior college and above” and “below junior college” groups. In contrast, evidence was lacking regarding the associations between military experience and depression for unmarried and rural veterans.
Conclusions
Individual characteristics could influence the relationship between military experience and depression in male veterans, and the mental health of veterans should be paid more attention and guaranteed.
Date Issued
2023-12-07
Date Acceptance
2023-11-23
Citation
BMC Public Health, 2023, 23
ISSN
1471-2458
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
BMC Public Health
Volume
23
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2447
Date Publish Online
2023-12-07