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Perceived Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Care and Provider Preference in a Sample of Air National Guard Members

Shaughnessy, Ceara D.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4732-8391
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1521224428825265

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Counselor Education (Education).
Mental Health services are underutilized by military members even when they are aware of a possible mental health disorder (Ben-Zeev, Corrigan, Britt, & Langford, 2012). The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have significantly impacted the mental health of military personnel (Quartana et al., 2014). These wars have resulted in millions of deployments with over 800,000 military members having deployed multiple times (Zinzow, Britt, McFadden, Burnette, & Gillispie, 2012). Military members have significant fears related to stigma, confidentiality, and negative career impact when seeking mental health services (Christensen & Yaffe, 2012; Rowan & Campise, 2006). The following dissertation includes a literature review on the mental health concerns of military members and perceived barriers to care, as well as, a brief review of current strategies for decreasing barriers to mental health services. The aim of this quantitative study was to examine military members’ perceived barriers to seeking mental health care. The study seeks to determine whether (a) there are gender differences in perceived barriers to seeking mental health services; (b) whether there are differences between deployed members’ versus non-deployed members’ perceived barriers to seeking mental health care; (c) to determine whether differences exist in military members’ preferences for providers of mental health care; and (d) to determine if prior engagement in mental health care treatment reduces stigma. In order to investigate military members’ perceived barriers to seeking mental health care within the military population, the current study administered the Military Stigma Scale (MSS) and the General Help Seeking Questionnaire-adaptation (GHSQ-a) to members of the Kansas Air National Guard at the 184th Intelligence Wing (IW) located at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB) in Wichita, Kansas. The military members were asked demographic questions about themselves, followed by two scales which assessed their attitudes towards seeking mental health care. The results were analyzed using a non-parametric Mann-Whitney U and revealed that there were few significant differences in the population related to seeking mental health care. This suggests that the military culture itself may increase both public and selfstigma related to seeking mental health care. Investigation of the demographics showed that male military members experience greater self-stigma when seeking mental health care compared to female military members. Additionally, men reported a greater likelihood of not seeking care for an emotional problem. The results of this study are aimed at advancing knowledge about military members’ utilization of mental health care, barriers to mental health care, and preference for mental health delivery.
Mona Robinson (Advisor)
157 p.
Counseling Education; Mental Health; Military Studies
military; veteran; mental health; stigma; barriers; Military Stigma Scale

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Shaughnessy, C. D. (2018). Perceived Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Care and Provider Preference in a Sample of Air National Guard Members [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1521224428825265

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Shaughnessy, Ceara. Perceived Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Care and Provider Preference in a Sample of Air National Guard Members. 2018. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1521224428825265.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Shaughnessy, Ceara. "Perceived Barriers to Seeking Mental Health Care and Provider Preference in a Sample of Air National Guard Members." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1521224428825265

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1521224428825265
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.
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