A study of depression in military personnel

Nyamjav Baasandorj¹, Delgerjav Munkhnasan^2*

* Corresponding Author: Delgerjav Munkhnasan

¹Doctoral student, National University of Mongolia, nyamjav0819@gmail.com
²PhD, Department of Psychology, National Univeristy of Mongolia, delgerjav@num.edu

Digital Object Identifier: 

https://doi.org/10.53468/mifyr.2024.04.01.63

Abstract— Recently, as the media has broadcast information about crimes committed by military personnel, society’s negative opinion about military personnel continues to attract public attention. In light of this situation, military psychologists are confronted with the need to study depression, fear, and anxiety among servicemen, as they continue to commit criminal acts such as desertion, misuse of weapons and firearms, and incidents of self-harm or harm to others. In this study, we administered a survey to servicemen who have recently enlisted and proceeded to analyze the correlation between depression and the adjustment to military life among active-duty military personnel. The study reports that among 129 newly recruited military personals, 9 percent exhibited moderate depression, and 15 percent displayed severe depression. According to the adaptability survey, 50 percent performed averagely, 17 percent performed poorly, and 6 percent performed very poorly. The results indicate a direct relationship between depression and adaptability, demonstrating that lower levels of depression have a lesser impact on adaptation.

Keywords— Depression, adaptability, Military life, Active-duty military Personnel

Article History: Received 02 March 2024, Received in revised form 06 March 2024, Accepted 30 March 2024