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Honor Endorsement Strengthens Military Personnel's Help-Seeking Stigma Toward Mental Health
Jarrod E Bock1, Jacques De Villiers1, Katy Jones1
1Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA.
Introduction:
Suicide among US military personnel (active-duty and veterans) is a public health crisis, with rates among personnel far exceeding that of the general population. However, military-related suicide rates are not evenly distributed across the United States, with research indicating that they are higher in more honor-oriented states. In addition to firearm accessibility being a significant suicide risk factor for both military personnel and individuals in honor cultures, both groups also stigmatize help-seeking for mental healthcare. We examined whether honor endorsement differentially affected military personnel and civilians help-seeking stigma, hypothesizing that self-stigma and perceived social stigma would be strongest among honor-oriented military personnel.
Method:
Participants were 236 civilians and 475 military personnel. We examined associations between their endorsement of honor norms and three forms of help-seeking stigma while controlling for relevant factors (e.g., gender, income, health insurance).
Results:
Both military personnel (v. civilians) and honor endorsement were associated with greater self-stigma and perceived social stigma, but not barriers to care. Most importantly, honor endorsement strengthened military personnel's self-stigma and perceived social stigma toward help-seeking.
Conclusions:
Findings add to literature on the honor-military association and suggest that the cultural ideology of honor might serve as a barrier to help-seeking for military personnel.
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