Symptom severity, self-efficacy and treatment-seeking for mental health among US Iraq/Afghanistan military veterans

Keeling, Mary; Barr, Nicholas; Atuel, Hazel; Castro, Carl A.

Abstract

Military veterans have high rates of mental health problems, yet the majority do not seek treatment. Understanding treatment-seeking in this population is important. This study investigated if symptom severity and self-efficacy are associated with treatment-seeking among US Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Survey data from 525 veterans meeting clinical criteria for PTSD and depression were included of which, 54.4% had sought treatment in the past 12 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that high symptom severity was associated with treatment seeking, whereas high self-efficacy was associated with a decreased likelihood to seek treatment. Self-efficacy could be an underlying mechanism of treatment seeking decisions.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 11, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 17, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Feb 18, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 27, 2020
• Journal: Community Mental Health Journal
• Print ISSN: 0010-3853
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
• Publisher: Springer (part of Springer Nature)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 56
• Pages: 1239–1247
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00578-8
• Keywords: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Health(social science); Psychiatry and Mental health
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5430280
• Additional Information: Received: 4 June 2018; Accepted: 11 February 2020; First Online: 17 February 2020; : ; : The funding for this study was provided by the Research Council of the school where all authors were either currently employed or a student. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.