| Recipient: | Lawson Health Research Institute |
|---|---|
| Project: | The Roles of Personality and Resiliency in Veteran and Mental Health |
| Province: | Ontario |
| Period: | Fiscal year 2020-2021 |
| Funding: | $42,250.00 |
Overview:
Lawson Health Research Institute used funding from the Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund to study the role of personality traits as either risk or protective factors for Veteran mental health.
Project goals:
The goals of this project were to:
- Assess whether six broad personality traits (openness, agreeableness, emotionality, honesty-humility, conscientiousness, extraversion) predict levels of depression, anxiety, and PTSD among Veterans;
- Assess whether resiliency serves as an intermediary in the relationship between personality and mental health; and
- Determine whether relations between combat exposure and PTSD are stronger for those higher in maladaptive traits and weaker for those higher in adaptive traits.
Project activities:
Approximately 500 treatment-seeking and non-treatment-seeking Veterans were invited to participate in this project via participant recruitment platforms, word of mouth, social media and email distributions within professional and veterans networks. Consenting participants completed a survey pertaining to their personality trait levels, stressful experiences during military operations, as well as past-year symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
Project results:
Overall, 245 CAF Veterans participated in this study. Results showed that resilience, extraversion, and agreeableness significantly and negatively predicted PTSD symptoms. Combat experiences and emotionality significantly and positively predicted PTSD. However, personality traits did not moderate the impact of combat experiences on PTSD symptoms, suggesting that combat experiences influence Veterans’ mental health regardless of trait levels.