Psychosocial stress in Marine Corps officers

Stress research in military populations has largely been devoted to specialized situations "at risk" for high levels of stress, such as combat, recruit training, sea duty, as well as post-traumatic stress in veterans. Though the armed forces continue to train for war during peacetime, military personnel also carry out administrative, executive, and technical job functions not directly related to combat preparations. Little data exists researching stress experienced in military non-combat environments. A study was conducted assessing levels of stress of 900 Marine Corps officers assigned to various headquarters and stations. Randomly selected participants completed the Derogatis Stress Profile (DSP). The study examined stress as a function of rank and the individual officer's perception of stress. Total stress levels of the subjects were compared to those used to norm the DSP.