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Background: Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for service personnel from the United Kingdom (UK). Little is known about the pattern of risky driving by these service personnel. Methods: Cross-sectional data (collected postdeployment, between June 2004 and March 2006) were analyzed from a large, randomly selected cohort of military personnel from the UK. These analyses were limited to regular-service personnel who were drivers (n=8127; 7443 men and 684 women). “Risky driving” (not wearing a seatbelt, speeding, or both) was examined. Analyses were then repeated but restricted to those with experience of deployment to Iraq (n=4611). All analyses were undertaken during 2007. Results: Nineteen percent of armed forces personnel from the UK were defined as risky drivers. Risky driving was associated with being of young age; being male; being in the Army; childhood adversity; being deployed to Iraq; having a combat role; and being separated, divorced, or widowed. Restricting analyses to those deployed to Iraq revealed that risky driving was associated with increasing exposure to traumatic events and low in-theater morale. Conclusions: There are clear sociodemographic associations of risk-taking behaviors in the military population, and the study''s results imply that risky driving is more common in drivers who had deployed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare the development in symptoms, behaviors, function and treatment between patients with or without a substance use (SU) diagnose in a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Methods: A total of 118 admitted patients were assessed at admittance, day 3 and discharge from the PICU. Symptoms of psychopathology, therapeutic steps taken, violent episodes and length of patient stay were recorded. Results: More males than females received an SU diagnosis. Substance use patients had less psychiatric symptoms at admittance and showed a faster symptom reduction, more favorable and faster improvement of function and a shorter length of stay. Except for symptom reduction and shorter length of stay, these differences were largely due to differences in sex and diagnoses in the two groups. Conclusion: In a naturalistic group of patients in a PICU, SU is associated with favorable outcomes compared to patients not using substances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]