Measurement of Selected Risk and Protective Factors Related to Harmful Behaviors in the Military Environment – Submitted December 2024

In Fall 2023, the DAC-PSM was tasked by the Department to conduct a study to identify and define community and organizational level risk and protective factors that contribute to harmful behaviors in military settings, as well as to recommend appropriate metrics to assess those factors.

The study’s report identifies 24 total risk and protective factors and offers recommendations on the measurement of those factors. Also included in the report are five general recommendations and one observed limitation, offered to strengthen the Department’s future measurement efforts.

To help facilitate the Department’s consideration of the study’s recommendations, the Committee categorized its recommendations by level of available evidentiary support:

• Established Recommendations: These metrics are well-defined, validated, and previously used in military populations, and are immediately actionable by the Department.


• Emerging Recommendations: These are existing metrics that have been validated in non-military settings (e.g., universities) and may require DoD modification before using.


• Exploratory Recommendations: These factors have been identified as important in military environments but are lacking suitable existing metrics. The Committee strongly encourages DoD to identify or develop appropriate metrics for future measurement of these factors.

This framework of evidentiary support offers a structure through which the Department can make continued measurement progress utilizing factors and metrics already supported by science, while also considering how the future measurement of additional factors could enhance the understanding of risk and protective factors that impact military environments, and by extension, improve the effectiveness of efforts to prevent sexual violence.

Click on the icons to view the full text of the study's executive summary and report.

DoD's Training of Junior Enlisted Service Members: An Analysis of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Training for DoD's Most At-Risk Population - Submitted 2023

At the request of the Department, the DAC-PSM conducted a 2022-2023 review of sexual assault and sexual harassment training offered to junior enlisted Service members and submitted its report, entitled “DoD’s Training of Junior Enlisted Service Members: An Analysis of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Training for DoD’s Most At-Risk Population” to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. The Committee focused its analysis on training of junior enlisted Service members (E1-E4), not only because annual reporting data repeatedly show that this subgroup is at highest risk of being affected by harmful behaviors, but also because it comprises a significant portion of the overall DoD military population (approximately 700,000 Service members across Active duty, Reserve, and National Guard Components).

The report offers 16 recommendations for the DoD's consideration and seeks to deliver two impacts for this large at-risk population:

• Help reduce the number of incidents of sexual misconduct that might impact these individuals early in their military careers
• Equip future leaders with the appropriate knowledge and skills to effectively guide Service members who enter the military behind them

Click on the icons to view the full text of the study's executive summary and report.