Author(s): Justin Conrad, Samantha Brooks, Kelsey Shields, Ana Marie Masino
Mentor(s): Bryan Koenig, Kirsten L. Graham, Daniel Hatch
Institution SUU
Prior research has found that after discharge many veterans experience mental health challenges. For example, one study found that nearly 20% of U.S. veterans reported suicidal ideation, with 15.1% endorsing suicidal ideation in their first-year post-service (Borowski et al., 2022). Moreover, depression severity was the most important contributor to suicidal ideation. The current research evaluates the mental health of students at Southern Utah University (SUU), comparing veteran with non-veteran students. We evaluated thirteen mental health variables, including depression, stress, anxiety, and suicidality. Data was gathered in a survey from General Psychology students and students recruited via the mySUU student portal. Preliminary results show that veteran students at SUU may be similar or slightly better off with mental health compared to the non-veterans. Compared with non-veteran students, veterans were better off on anxiety and stress (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) and student stress (Feldt, 2008), but veterans were worse off on a single item of belongingness on campus (ACHA-NCHA, 2019) and aversive lifetime experiences (modified from Murphy, et al., 2016, to include adulthood). Comparisons were non-significant regarding depression (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), suicidality (Osman et al., 2001), trust in close relationships (TCR; Rempel et al., 1985), perceived burdensomeness (van Orden et al., 2012), resilience (Smith et al., 2008), hopelessness (Fraser, et al., 2014), three kinds of perceived social support (Zimet et al., 1988). For the non-significant comparisons, means were trending such that veterans were better off for 8 of the 9 variables. Overall, our results suggest that student veterans may have better mental health than we expected. A key limitation of this study was sample size. We only had 17 veterans and 675 non-veterans, after exclusions, resulting in low power. We are currently collecting more data to increase our sample size. Another key limitation would be self-selection bias, due to our title of the survey we may have especially attracted people who feel they are experiencing a mental health crisis or have identified strongly with poor mental health. Future surveys may need to have a more inclusive title to attract a more diverse group as it relates to mental health and personal identification.