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- Title
Predictors of Completing Compulsory Military Service Among Men Who Have Received a Temporary Exemption From Service.
- Authors
Appelqvist-Schmidlechner, Kaija; Henriksson, Markus; Parkkola, Kai; Stengård, Eija
- Abstract
Military or alternative civilian service is obligatory for all Finnish male citizens. About 70% of each annual age cohort carry out this service. The rest are given either a permanent or temporary exemption from military or civil service. The aim of this study was to investigate predictors associated with completing military service after having once been given a temporary exemption from service. The study sample consisted of 245 men who were exempted temporarily from service. The data were collected through questionnaires and register data. During the 5-year follow-up, only 21 men had completed the service following a previous temporary exemption. Completing military service was associated with an exemption based on a somatic diagnosis, having no suicidal ideation in the past, no history of parental divorce, and having physical exercise at least once a week. The results of this study support the idea of preferring to give a permanent exemption instead of a temporary exemption. However, this trend runs the risk of discharging men who could be capable of later completing the service successfully.
- Subjects
FINLAND; DRAFT (Military service); NATIONAL service; RECRUITING &; enlistment (Armed Forces); COMPULSORY participation
- Publication
Military Medicine, 2013, Vol 178, Issue 5, p549
- ISSN
0026-4075
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.7205/MILMED-D-12-00413