Objective    To establish the morms of mental quality scale for servicemen in Chinese PLA.      Methods    A total of 7 124 servicemen were randomly sampled from Chinese PLA. Their mental quality was assessed based on the “mental quality scale” we previously established by correlation

regression

variance and student’s  t test analysis.     Results    A significant difference existed in mental quality of servicemen

which can be greatly influenced by different services

official ranks

and lengths of military service. Four norms

including a total norm

a service norm

a rank norm

and a military service length norm

were accordingly established

  which can be used as the objective criteria for the assessment of mental quality of servicemen in Chinese PLA. A significant difference was found in mental quality of servicemen between the services

official ranks

and lengths of military service (P0.01). The mental quality level was significantly higher in servicemen from air force than in those from ground force and navy(P0.01) with no difference between servicemen from ground force and navy. The mental quality level was significantly lower in solders than in officers and non-commissioned officers (P0.01)

with no difference between officers and non-commissioned officers. The mental quality increased with the length of military service and tended to increase

decrease

and increase again.     Conclusion    The mental quality norm we established can be used in assessment of the mental quality of servicemen in Chinese PLA.