Predicting Pregnancy and Pregnancy Attrition

Abstract

Because pregnancy accounts for a large proportion of the attrition among enlisted Marine Corps women, an investigation was conducted of the effects of traditional family/career orientation, feelings of isolation, and feelings of dissatisfaction with the Marine Corps on incidence of pregnancy and pregnancy attrition among these women. The variables were measured, along with current pregnancy status, by means of a survey of 610 first-term enlisted women. Follow- up data on attrition status and number of dependents were collected 18 months later from Marine Corps records. Traditional sex role orientation was a predictor of both pregnancy and attrition, although it was useful for predicting among single women only. Women who became pregnant and subsequently attrited were less committed to a Marine Corps career than were those who became pregnant and remained in the Marines, even when commitment was measured prior to the pregnancy. Neither feelings of isolation nor dissatisfaction with the Marine Corps were predictors of pregnancy or pregnancy attrition, although women who were pregnant at the time of the survey had more of these feelings than nonpregnant women.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1985
Accession Number
ADA158523

Entities

People

  • Marjorie H. Royle
  • Meg Gerrard

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Attrition
  • Biological Sciences
  • Contraception
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Factor Analysis
  • Fertility
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Research
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Pregnancy
  • Psychology
  • Recruiting
  • Students
  • Surveys
  • Training
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Naval Personnel Management
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Women's Health and Cancer Risk Research: African American Women and Pregnancy Outcomes.