Objectives. To determine if military leader behaviors are associated with active component and Reserve–National Guard servicewomen’s risk of sexual assault in the military (SAIM) for nondeployed locations.
Methods. A community sample of 1337 Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom–era Army and Air Force servicewomen completed telephone interviews (March 2010–December 2011) querying sociodemographic and military characteristics, sexual assault histories, and leader behaviors. We created 2 factor scores (commissioned and noncommissioned) to summarize behaviors by officer rank.
Results. A total of 177 servicewomen (13%) experienced SAIM in nondeployed locations. Negative leader behaviors were associated with increased assault risk, at least doubling servicewomen’s odds of SAIM (e.g., noncommissioned officers allowed others in unit to make sexually demeaning comments; odds ratio = 2.7; 95% confidence interval = 1.8, 4.1). Leader behavior frequencies were similar, regardless of service type. Negative leadership behavior risk factors remained significantly associated with SAIM risk even after adjustment for competing risk. Noncommissioned and commissioned officer factor scores were highly correlated (r = 0.849).
Conclusions. The association between leader behaviors and SAIM indicates that US military leaders have a critical role in influencing servicewomen’s risk of and safety from SAIM.
- Anne G. Sadler, Michelle A. Mengeling, and Amy M. J. O’Shea are with the Center for Comprehensive Access & Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE), Iowa City VA Health Care System, Iowa City. Anne G. Sadler is also with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City. Michelle A. Mengeling and Amy M. J. O’Shea are also with the Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Brenda M. Booth is with the Division of Health Services Research, Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock. James C. Torner is with the Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa College of Public Health, and the Departments of Neurosurgery and Surgery, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.
