Family relationships, leaving home, and adjustment to military service

Associations between family relationships and individual adjustment were st udied within a sample of 19-year-old soldiers during their first weeks of b asic training. Results showed that family relationships partly explained so ldiers' closeness to best friends, number of social nominations, and comman ders' ratings of soldiers' military and social competence. In addition, fam ily relations explained soldiers' perceived social competence as assessed v ia closeness to best friends and number of sociometric nominations. Togethe r the results reiterate the role played by the family and attitudes toward offspring leaving home and toward their adjustment to military service.