Veterans report more extramarital sex

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SYRACUSE, N.Y., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Military veterans report extramarital sex and at about double the rate of those who married but were never in the military, U.S. researchers say.

Andrew S. London, chair of the sociology department and a sociology professor at Syracuse University, said the study is based on data from a 1992 national survey, which found that more than 32 percent of ever-married veterans reported extramarital sex -- about twice the rate among ever-married non-veterans at 16.8 percent.

"To the extent that the patterns observed in these data hold for our current veteran population, the results of this study provide evidence that the concerns about infidelity among spouses of persons who have served in the military are to a considerable degree valid," London said in a statement. "However, even though the reported rates of infidelity were significantly higher for veterans than non-veterans, extramarital sex was only reported by one-third of ever-married veteran respondents."

The findings, presented at the 106th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas, found that among those who had ever married, veterans were almost 10 percent more likely to have gotten divorced at 38.5 percent compared to 28.9 percent of non-veterans.

Overall, even after taking into account veteran status and other factors that influence divorce, those who reported extramarital sex were 2.3 times more likely than those who reported no extramarital sex to have ever divorced, the study said.