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. 2022 Nov 21;2022(6):577-589.
doi: 10.1080/08995605.2022.2141049.

Correlates of Incarceration History Among Military Veterans

Katherine Kelton  1 , Elizabeth E Van Voorhees  1   2   3 , Eric B Elbogen  2   3   4 ; VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC Workgroup; Kirsten H Dillon  1   2   3
Affiliations

Correlates of Incarceration History Among Military Veterans

Katherine Kelton et al. Mil Psychol. .

Abstract

Veterans with histories of incarceration are at greater risk for poor physical and mental health outcomes, yet prior research in this population has focused on specific subsets of veterans or a narrow range of predictors. We utilized the Bronfenbrenner Socioecological Model as the framework to evaluate correlates of incarceration history in a large sample of Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans at four levels: demographic, historical, clinical, and contextual. Participants were 2,904 veterans (76.9% male; 49.5% White and 46.5% Black; mean age 38.08, SD = 10.33), 700 of whom reported a history of incarceration. Four logistic regression models predicting history of incarceration were tested, adding demographic, historical, clinical, and contextual variables hierarchically. In the final model, younger age (OR=0.99, 95% CI=0.98-1.00), male gender (OR of being female =0.28, 95% CI=0.21-0.38), belonging to a historically marginalized group (OR of being White =0.69, 95% CI=0.56-0.84), family history of incarceration (OR=1.47, 95% CI=1.10-1.94), adult interpersonal trauma (OR=1.39, 95% CI=1.28-1.51), problematic alcohol use (OR=1.03, 95% CI=1.02-1.05), drug abuse (OR=1.15, 95% CI=1.11-1.19), and unemployment (OR for being employed=0.76, 95% CI=0.62-0.92) were significantly associated with a history of incarceration. Implications of these findings for developing interventions and supporting systems to effectively target this high-risk population of veterans are discussed.

Keywords: Military veterans; criminal justice; incarceration; risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

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