Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) places a high priority on the health and well-being of Canadian Veterans.  Research such as this produces evidence to inform Departmental policies and programs designed to support Veteran mental health. 

What is this Research About?

Additional analyses of the mental health findings of the 2013 Life After Service Studies (LASS) dataset was completed to document the extent and factors of mental health problems in Canadian Veterans.  This report provides the results of a multivariable analysis of the LASS findings using a new composite mental health problem (MHP) measure. 

What did the Researchers Do?

The report looked at factors associated with a range mental health problems, from mild to severe, in Regular and Reserve Force Veterans.  Using the MHP measure, with three degrees of severity (no/little, mild/moderate, and severe), researchers assessed a number of variables:  ease of adjustment to civilian life; socioeconomic and military characteristics; physical health and chronic pain; and life stress, life satisfaction, mastery and perceived social support.

What did the Researchers Find?

• Using the composite measure, 39% of Veterans had a mental health problem which was larger than the 24% that reported a diagnosed mental health condition. Of the 39% with a mental health problem, 16% were reported as severe.
• Mental health problems were associated with a variety of socioeconomic, military, health and disability characteristics; they were most likely in the middle-age group
• Chronic physical health conditions and chronic pain were consistently associated with mental health problems
• Self-reported difficult adjustment to civilian life was strongly associated with mental health problems
• The presence of mental and physical health conditions, not type of release, were correlated with difficult adjustments to civilian life
• 60% of those reporting a difficult adjustment were not medically released – therefore support cannot only be focused on medically-released Veterans but also on those who reported difficult adjustment to civilian life

Source

Thompson JM, Sweet J, VanTil L, Poirier A, MacKinnon K. Correlates of Mental Health Problems in Canadian Armed Forces Veterans: 2013 Life After Service Survey. Charlottetown PE: Research Directorate, Veterans Affairs Canada.  Research Directorate Technical Report. Charlottetown. 14 September 2016.

http://publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.857307&sl=0