Abstract:
The purpose of this descriptive study is to determine mental health problem and associated factors of new Thai army recruits in Phramongkutklao hospital in 2009. All 220 new recruits participated in the study. The research instruments were the demographic data questionnaire, questionnaire about army recruits and General Health Questionnaire-30. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis. The results showed that 26.4% of new thai army recruits had mental health problem. No association between mental health problem and demographic was evident data but factor related to working in the army were such as relationship with friends ([X superscript 2]=6.557,p=.01), relationship with immediate superiors ([X superscript 2]=4.153,p=.04), number of friends who gave support ([X superscript 2] =12.958,p<.001) and opportunity for work ([X superscript 2]=6.903,p=.009) . The results after multivariate analysis showed that number of friends who gave support and opportunity for work decreased the likelihood of healthy mental problem approximately 50%