Meaningful Employment Among Veterans with Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders

Objective: To examine associations between employment-based self-regulatory processes and meaningful employment attainment among veterans with co-occurring conditions. Methods: A survey was administered to a national Qualtrics panel of 534 employed veterans self-reporting mental health and substance use conditions. We tested whether career exploration, goal clarity, job-searching skills, and self-regulation skills explained unique variance in meaningful employment beyond other relevant predictors: mental health symptoms, alcohol and drug use severity, economic constraints, marginalization, job prestige, and employment status. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis revealed career exploration, goal clarity, job-searching skills, and self-regulation skills were significantly associated with meaningful employment beyond other predictors. Job prestige, employment status, and mental health symptoms also had significant associations with meaningful employment, while economic constraints and alcohol use lost significance in the final model. Conclusions: Interventions promoting exploration, goal clarity, job-searching, and self-regulation may improve meaningful employment attainment while buffering the effects of alcohol use and economic constraints.