Stress, Resilience, Stigma and Barriers to Mental Health Care in AF Nursing Staff
Abstract
Purpose: To assess if stigma and barriers to accessing mental health services (MHS) in Air Force (AF) nurses are influenced by resilience, stress, demographics, deployment, or use of MH services .Methods: AF registered nurses (RNs) and medical technicians completed a survey, including demographic items, stigma scale, barriers scale, Conner-Davidson Resilience scale, and Perceived Stress Questionnaire. Sample: n=250 (RNs = 141, Medical Technicians = 104, Unknown = 5). Analysis: Descriptive statistics characterized demographics, MH access, deployment(s), and questionnaire scores. Multivariate analysis of variance examined stigma, barriers, stress, and resilience based on demographics and deployment. Logistic regression determined whether treatment-seeking was influenced by military grade, gender, stigma, barriers, stress, and resilience. Findings: Respondents neither agreed nor disagreed accessing MH services would be stigmatizing(M=3.1, SD=.88), and disagreed barriers would exist (M=2.1, SD=.74). Agree was the modal response for items assessing if accessing MH services would harm my career, cause members to have less confidence in me, be treated differently by leadership, be seen as weak, and experience difficulty getting time off work for treatment. Resilience was high (M=75.4, SD=12.7); stress was moderate (M=.43, SD=.18).Multivariate analyses showed an effect of military grade on stigma, resilience, and stress (p<.05 for each). RNs reported higher stigma and resilience and lower stress than enlisted personnel. The majority who accessed MHS did so during their service; care was unrelated to deployments. Approximately 44 reported a stress or emotional problem, and 28 accessed MHS within the past six months. Stress was higher in individuals who accessed care within the past six months (p <.001). Respondents preferred addressing MH concerns via military resources and preferred care from a MH professional. Implications for Military Nursing: See Report
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 28, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1055912
Entities
People
- Stephen H. Hernandez