title: Posttraumatic stress and stigma in active-duty service members relate to lower likelihood of seeking support.
abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health concern for returning service members. Social support is a robust predictor of resiliency and recovery from PTSD; however, barriers to seeking support are understudied. PTSD and anticipated enacted stigma from family and friends were explored as correlates of the likelihood of seeking support among 153 Iraq/Afghanistan U.S. service members. Results showed that PTSD (r = -.31, p < .001) and anticipated enacted stigma (r = -.22, p ≤ .01) were negatively associated with likelihood of seeking support. Post hoc analyses showed that only dysphoria (r = -.32, p < .001) was significantly related to the likelihood of seeking support after accounting for anticipated enacted stigma and other PTSD clusters. Implications of these findings and ways to increase likelihood of seeking support are discussed.
authors: Mental Health Service, VA Puget Sound-Seattle Division, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors: Rebecca K
authors: RK
authors: Blais
authors: Keith D
authors: KD
authors: Renshaw
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Jakupcak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D006801:Humans; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D057545:Social Stigma; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult