PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Tae Kyung Kim AU - H-C Lee AU - S G Lee AU - K-T Han AU - E-C Park TI - The influence of sexual harassment on mental health among female military personnel of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces AID - 10.1136/jramc-2015-000613 DP - 2017 Apr 01 TA - Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps PG - 104--110 VI - 163 IP - 2 4099 - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/163/2/104.short 4100 - http://militaryhealth.bmj.com/content/163/2/104.full SO - J R Army Med Corps2017 Apr 01; 163 AB - Introduction Reports of sexual harassment are becoming more frequent in Republic of Korea (ROK) Armed Forces. This study aimed to analyse the impact of sexual harassment on mental health among female military personnel of the ROK Armed Forces.Methods Data from the 2014 Military Health Survey were used. Instances of sexual harassment were recorded as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was carried out to compare Kessler Psychological Distress Scale 10 (K-10) scores. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify associations between sexual harassment and K-10 scores.Results Among 228 female military personnel, 13 (5.7%) individuals experienced sexual harassment. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that sexual harassment had a significantly negative impact on K-10 scores (3.486, p<0.04). Higher K-10 scores among individuals experiencing sexual harassment were identified in the unmarried (including never-married) group (6.761, p<0.04), the short-term military service group (12.014, p<0.03) and the group whose length of service was <2 years (11.067, p<0.02).Conclusions Sexual harassment has a negative impact on mental health. Factors associated with worse mental health scores included service classification and length of service. The results provide helpful information with which to develop measures for minimising the negative psychological effects from sexual harassment and promoting sexual harassment prevention policy.