Childhood trauma and childhood mental disorder in military and employed civilian men

We aimed to retrospectively investigate childhood trauma and childhood mental disorder in military and employed civilian men aged 18 to 54 years. Data, derived from the 2010 Australian Defence Force (ADF) Mental Health Prevalence and Wellbeing Study and the 2007 Australian Bureau of Statistics National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing Study, were analyzed and compared using direct age standardization and logistic regression. A greater proportion of ADF reported childhood trauma, multiple trauma types, trauma onset below 12 years of age, and interpersonal trauma than civilian employed men. A greater proportion of ADF reported childhood noninterpersonal trauma, such as accidents, than civilian employed men, with a marked difference in those aged 45 to 54 years. In both populations, childhood disorder was associated with childhood trauma; however, childhood depression was not associated with childhood noninterpersonal trauma in either population. A deeper understanding of the longer-term risk and resilience conferred by different childhood trauma profiles is needed.