Patterns of help-seeking in a national sample of student veterans: a matched control group investigation.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined patterns of professional and nontraditional help-seeking in a national sample of veterans from 57 colleges/universities and demographically matched students from the same institutions who had not served in the US Armed Forces.

METHODS: In total, 945 veterans and 2835 demographically matched nonveteran students from the same 4-year institutions completed assessments of help-seeking intentions and behaviors from professional, religious and informal sources in the Healthy Minds Study between 2011 and 2015.

RESULTS: Drawing on bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models, equal ratios of these samples (2:1) did not endorse professional help-seeking intentions or behaviors. When compared to nonveteran students, veterans had greater intentions for religious help-seeking but were less likely to seek help from family/friends. Nearly half of depressed veterans who had not utilized services had also not sought help from any religious or informal sources.

CONCLUSIONS: Unmet mental health needs might interfere with the success of a sizeable contingent of veterans pursuing new vocational goals. Community-based programs that can educate and/or equip nontraditional sources of support in veterans' naturally occurring relationships might offset these concerns.