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Lower autonomic arousal is a well-known correlate of criminal offending and other risk-taking behaviors in men, but few studies have investigated this association in women. To test associations between autonomic arousal and criminal offending as well as unintentional injuries among female conscripts. All women born 1958-1994 in Sweden who participated in voluntary military conscription (n = 12,499) were identified by linking Swedish population-based registers. Predictors were resting heart rate (RHR) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Covariates were height, weight, and physical energy capacity. Main outcomes were criminal convictions (any, violent, and non-violent) from the National Crime Register. Secondary outcome was unintentional injuries requiring medical treatment or causing death. We used survival analyses to test for associations between predictors and outcomes. Low RHR, relative to high RHR, was associated with an increased risk of any criminal conviction, non-violent criminal convictions, and unintentional injuries. Low SBP, relative to high SBP, was associated with an increased risk of violent criminal convictions. Results support lower autonomic arousal, particularly lower RHR, as a correlate of criminal offending among women that warrants further examination, as the reported findings have potential implications for the prediction of future female crime.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause neuronal damage and cerebrovascular dysfunction, leading to acute brain dysfunction and considerable physical and mental impairment long after initial injury. Our goal was to assess the impact of pediatric TBI (pTBI) on military service, completed by 65-70% of men in Finland. We conducted a retrospective register-based nationwide cohort study. All patients aged 0 to 17 years at the time of TBI, between 1998 and 2018, were included. Operatively and conservatively treated patients with pTBI were analyzed separately. The reference group was comprised of individuals with upper and lower extremity fractures. Information on length of service time, service completion, fitness for service class, and cognitive performance in a basic cognitive test (b-test) was gathered from the Finnish Military Records for both groups. Linear and logistic regression with 95% CI were used in comparisons. Our study group comprised 12 281 patients with pTBI and 20 338 reference group patients who participated in conscription. A total of 8 507 (66.5%) men in the pTBI group and 14 953 (71.2%) men in the reference group completed military service during the follow-up period. Men in the reference group were more likely to complete military service (OR 1.26, CI 1.18-1.34). A total of 31 (23.3%) men with operatively treated pTBI completed the military service. Men with conservatively treated pTBI had a much higher service rate (OR 7.20, CI 4.73-11.1). In the pTBI group, men (OR 1.26, CI 1.18-1.34) and women (OR 2.05, CI 1.27-3.36) were more likely to interrupt military service than the reference group. The PTBI group scored 0.15 points (CI 0.10-0.20) less than the reference group in cognitive b-test. PTBI groups had slightly shorter military service periods and higher interruption rate than our reference-group. There were only minor differences between groups in cognitive b-test.

In this article we explore the role of conscription and citizens’willingness to defend the state in Israel and Finland. Focusing on civil-military relations from a historical point of view, we concentrate on government-led efforts to create, cultivate, and maintain particular public attitudes toward national defense in both countries. Governments in both Israel and Finland utilize military conscription, as well as direct and indirect narratives of civic duty, to cultivate and maintain positive attitudes toward conscription and the willingness to defend. Despite significant differences stemming from each country’s unique geostrategic location, history, and security challenges, we find a shared tendency in both to frame, endorse, and sustain the mass mobilization of their citizens for mandatory military service.

Purpose Environmental factors contribute substantially to risk for drug use disorders (DUD). The current study applies multiple methods to empirically test whether military service is associated with subsequent DUD, as previous findings are inconsistent. Methods Longitudinal Swedish national registry data on a cohort of male conscripts born 1972–1987 (maximum N  = 485,900) were used to test the association between military service and subsequent registration for DUD. Cox proportional hazard models were used in preliminary analyses, followed by three methods that enable causal inference: propensity score models, co-relative models, and instrumental variable analysis. Results Across all methods, military service was causally associated with lower risk of DUD. Hazard ratios ranged from HR = 0.43 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.37; 0.50) in the instrumental variable analysis to 0.77 (0.75; 0.79) in the multivariate propensity score matching analysis. This effect diminished across time. In the model including a propensity score, HRs remained below 1 across the observation period, while confidence intervals included 1 after ~ 11 years in the co-relative analysis and after ~ 21 years in the instrumental variable analysis. Conclusions In this cohort of Swedish men, complementary methods indicate that military service conferred substantial but time-limited protection against subsequent DUD. The observed effect could be due to reduced opportunity for substance use during service, social cohesion experienced during and after service, and/or socioeconomic advantages among veterans. Additional research is necessary to clarify these protective mechanisms and determine how other environmental contexts can provide similar benefits.

This prospective study examined whether Big Five traits and self-esteem predict voluntary and involuntary dropout from military training, beyond the effects of age, education, and self-reported physical fitness. We analyzed two independent samples, including 634 and 219 conscripts from the Swiss Armed Forces, using hierarchical logistic regression. Results indicate that lower self-esteem was associated with a higher likelihood of voluntary dropout, as hypothesized. Furthermore, lower levels of Big Five facet respectfulness were linked to an increased likelihood of voluntary dropout, and lower levels of facet creative imagination were linked to an increased likelihood of involuntary dropout. However, the effect of facets was less substantiated than that of self-esteem. None of the other variables significantly predicted dropout, and most hypothesized associations were not supported. We discuss potential explanations and highlight more promising predictors for future research. The findings contribute to our understanding of the predictive validity of personality scales and have practical implications for military personnel managers. We recommend using self-esteem as a screening measure to identify recruits prone to voluntary dropout. The present study was limited by a low number of dropout cases and potential selection effects that may have reduced predictive associations prior to analysis.

Background With Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine on February 2022, Ukrainian children and adolescents have been exposed to several stressful life events. In addition to the confrontation with war, flight and parent-child separation due to flight and forced displacement, the majority underwent another challenge at the initial phase of the war: the fatherly separation due to conscription. Main body In the literature, the negative effects of exposure to war and flight/refuge, parent-child separation due to flight or forced displacement and parental deployment are well established. In the context of self-experienced war, the effects of parent-child separation caused by compulsory military service have not yet been sufficiently taken into account. However, the findings of the literature on the impact of these events on the mental health of children and adolescents show that they are at high risk for developing numerous psychological and behavioral problems. Conclusion As children’s and adolescents’ mental health might be severely affected by war and its consequences, interventional programs that address the special needs of those children and adolescents are crucial.

Conscripts are exposed to various sources of impulse noise despite hearing protection recommendations. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of acute acoustic trauma (AAT) among conscripts after exposure to assault rifle noise in the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). This nationwide population-based cohort comprised all conscripts (>220,000) in the FDF during the years 1997–2003 and 2008–2010. We included those who claimed to have AAT symptoms from assault rifle noise during the study periods. During the investigated 10 years, 1617 conscripts (annual variation, 75–276) experienced a new hearing loss due to AAT. Altogether, 1456 (90%) of all AAT-induced hearing losses were caused by rifle-caliber weapons and 1304 (90%) of them when firing a blank cartridge. There was no clear diminishing trend in the annual numbers of AATs. In 1277 (88%) incidents, no hearing protector was used. Tinnitus was the most prominent symptom. Hearing losses after AAT were typically mild, but serious deficits also occurred. In conclusion, we found that 0.7–1.5% of the conscripts experienced an AAT during their service in the FDF. Most incidents occurred when firing a blank cartridge with a rifle-caliber weapon and with no hearing protector in use.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between suicide risk, alcohol consumption, and attitudes towards professional psychological help among Lithuanian general population men, conscripts, and regular active duty (AD) soldiers. In total, 1195 Lithuanian adult males participated in the study: 445 men from the general population, 490 conscripts, and 260 regular AD soldiers from the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The study’s measures included: general suicide risk, alcohol consumption levels, frequency of using alcohol as a means to suppress difficult thoughts and feelings, and attitudes toward psychological help. Both military samples showed significantly lower suicide risk than men from the general population. Alcohol use as a means to suppress difficult thoughts and feelings was the most significant predictor of suicide risk and a significant mediator between alcohol consumption and suicide risk in all study groups. Another significant suicide risk predictor and mediator between alcohol consumption and suicide risk—i.e., the value of seeking psychological treatment—was found only in the conscript sample. Results of the current study suggest that there is an opportunity for intervention aimed at the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help for conscripts. However, that might not be the case for regular AD soldiers, nor the general population of Lithuanian men.

This study explores the defence strategies of the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – focusing on the development of their national reserve forces as a response to increased security threats from Russia. Utilizing Regional Security Complex Theory and a modified DOTMLPFP framework, this comparative analysis examines each nation’s unique approach to conscription and volunteer defence organizations. Estonia’s continuous conscription model, Latvia’s recent reintroduction of conscription, and Lithuania’s hybrid reserve strategy all emphasize the Total Defence model, integrating society-wide participation in national defence. Findings indicate that these models, tailored to the Baltic context, enhance military readiness, recruitment, and societal resilience. The research provides critical insights for NATO members and similar states, highlighting the role of adaptable, comprehensive defence frameworks amid growing geopolitical tensions.

World War I erupted at a time when immigrants were entering the United States at a rate of almost one million per year. According to the 1910 census, there were 13,515,886 foreign-born residents, accounting for 14.7 percent of the population. Among the two largest nationality groups, Italians and Poles, 51.3 percent of the former and 45.8 percent of the latter lacked any English-language skills on arrival. When the United States entered the war in 1917, the lack of functional English among a large proportion of the population posed a major problem for those eligible for conscription into the US armed forces. How could the hundreds of thousands of potential recruits be effectively trained when so many barely understood basic English, if at all? This article chronicles the efforts of Stanisław Antoni Gutowski, a Polish immigrant from Grajewo in the Łomża Voivodeship in northeastern Poland, who successfully developed a comprehensive and effective training program that not only prepared people for service in the armed forces but also for obtaining citizenship and the English skills they would need to open doors to opportunity in civilian life.