Premium
Impediments to Mental Health Treatment as Predictors of Mental Health Symptoms Following Combat
Author(s) -
Wright Kathleen M.,
Britt Thomas W.,
Moore DeWayne
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.21946
Subject(s) - mental health , depression (economics) , structural equation modeling , psychiatry , psychology , clinical psychology , posttraumatic stress , statistics , mathematics , economics , macroeconomics
This longitudinal study examined whether impediments to mental health treatment would predict changes in mental health symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and depression) in the months following soldiers returning from combat. Three‐hundred ten combat veterans completed measures of impediments to treatment and measures of PTSD and depression symptoms at 2, 3, and 4 months following a 15‐month combat deployment. Structural equation modeling revealed that greater impediments (a latent variable indexed by stigma, practical barriers, and negative treatment attitudes) at 2 months predicted increased PTSD and depression symptoms from 2–3 months (β = .14) and greater impediments at 3 months predicted increased symptoms from 3–4 months (β = .26). In contrast, evidence was not obtained for the opposite causal direction of symptoms predicting higher levels of impediments at the different periods. Possible mechanisms for the predictive effects of impediments are discussed.