This article examines the health effects of generic and unique stresso
rs on military women's health. It is an outgrowth of work performed un
der the Defense Women's Health Research Program and participation in t
he Forum on the Health of Women in the Military held at the Uniformed
Services University of the Health Sciences on June 17 to 19, 1996. We
review gender differences in the effects of stress on health, We comme
nt on some of the methodological challenges in researching gender effe
cts. We hypothesize about some of the ways in which military women may
be more vulnerable to specific stressors and/or use different coping
strategies than their male counterparts. Finally, we make recommendati
ons about military training and future research.