title: The Willingness of Military Members to Seek Help: The Role of Social Involvement and Social Responsibility.
abstract: Anchored in the social organization theory of action and change, we use data from a large sample of active-duty Air Force members to examine the direct and indirect influence of social involvement and social responsibility on willingness to seek help in times of need via trust in formal systems and informal supports. Group comparisons are conducted between junior male, junior female, senior male, and senior female service members. The key mediational path in the model for all groups is the connection between social involvement and willingness to seek help via trust in formal systems. These results can inform both unit- and community-level interventions intended to increase the likelihood that active-duty AF members will seek help in times of need.
authors.affiliation: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Gary L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.affiliation: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Todd M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.affiliation: Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mancini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D000066505:Help-Seeking Behavior; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D012933:Social Identification; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012944:Social Support; D066269:Social Theory; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D035502:Trust; D014481:United States
keywords: Community intervention; Formal systems; Help-seeking; Informal support; Social involvement; Social responsibility; U.S. Air Force; U.S. military