My Commander in Chief is Black! The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election for Military Veterans

IF 1.2 3区社会学 Q3 POLITICAL SCIENCE

Armed Forces & Society Pub Date : 2022-05-09 DOI:10.1177/0095327X221082211

Quintin Gorman, Tony N. Brown, Julian Culver

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study investigated the mental health significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election for military veterans. Many believed his election signaled a progressive shift in race relations and crucial challenge to White supremacy. Furthermore, many argued his election generated hope, especially among Blacks. We therefore hypothesized Black and Hispanic veterans would experience improved mental health after installment of the nation’s first Black commander in chief. We also hypothesized White veterans would experience no change in their mental health. With nationally representative survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we tested these hypotheses by predicting poor mental health days self-identified Black, Hispanic, and White veterans experienced preelection and postelection in fall 2008. Net of established social determinants of health, we estimated Black and Hispanic veterans, respectively, experienced approximately 2.01 and 2.17 fewer poor mental health days postelection, whereas White veterans experienced no significant postelection change. Sensitivity analyses seemed to corroborate these findings.

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我的总司令是黑人!奥巴马2008年总统大选对退伍军人心理健康的意义

本研究探讨奥巴马2008年总统大选对退伍军人心理健康的影响。许多人认为，他的当选标志着种族关系的进步转变，是对白人至上主义的重大挑战。此外，许多人认为他的当选带来了希望，尤其是在黑人中。因此，我们假设黑人和西班牙裔退伍军人在美国第一位黑人总司令就职后，心理健康状况会有所改善。我们还假设白人退伍军人的心理健康状况不会发生变化。根据行为风险因素监测系统(BRFSS)的全国代表性调查数据，我们通过预测2008年秋季自认为的黑人、西班牙裔和白人退伍军人在选举前和选举后经历的心理健康状况不佳的日子来检验这些假设。考虑到健康的社会决定因素，我们估计黑人和西班牙裔退伍军人在选举后的心理健康状况不佳的天数分别减少了2.01天和2.17天，而白人退伍军人在选举后没有明显的变化。敏感性分析似乎证实了这些发现。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Armed Forces & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

3.00

自引率

28.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Armed Forces & Society: an interdisciplinary journal publishing articles on military institutions, civil-military relations, arms control and peacemaking, and conflict management. The journal is international in scope with a focus on historical, comparative, and interdisciplinary discourse. The editors and contributors include political scientists, sociologists, historians, psychologists, scholars, and economists, as well as specialists in military organization and strategy, arms control, and peacekeeping.