Predicting Pregnancy and Pregnancy Attrition in First-term Marine Corps Women

19 ABSTRACT {Continue on reverse if necessary and identify by block number) 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 pregnancy 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.