Prevalence of Mental Health Problems, Treatment Need, and Barriers to Care Among Spouses of Military Service Members Involved in Iraq and Afghanistan Deployments.

Author(s)

Stephen C. Messer, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Karen M. Eaton
Allison A. Whitt
Charles W. Hoge
Dennis McGurk
Oscar A. Cabrera
Anthony Cox
Carl A. Castro

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Military Psychology

ISSN

0899-5605

Publication Date

11-2008

Abstract

Military spouses must contend with unique issues such as a mobile lifestyle, rules and regulations of military life, and frequent family separations including peacekeeping and combat deployments. These issues may have an adverse effect on the health of military spouses. This study examined the mental health status, rates of care utilization, source of care, as well as barriers and stigma of mental health care utilization among military spouses who were seeking care in military primary care clinics. The data show spouses have similar rates of mental health problems compared to soldiers. Spouses were more likely to seek care for their mental health problems and were less concerned with the stigma of mental health care than were soldiers. Services were most often received from primary care physicians, rather than specialty mental health professionals, which may relate to the lack of availability of mental health services for spouses on military installations.

Volume

173

Issue

11

First Page

1051

Last Page

1056

NSUWorks Citation

Messer, S. C., Eaton, K. M., Whitt, A. A., Hoge, C. W., McGurk, D., Cabrera, O. A., Cox, A., Castro, C. A. (2008). Prevalence of Mental Health Problems, Treatment Need, and Barriers to Care Among Spouses of Military Service Members Involved in Iraq and Afghanistan Deployments.. Military Psychology, 173(11), 1051-1056.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/500