(PS1-D80) Ecological Contexts of Veterans Seeking Mental Health Treatment Following Military Sexual Trauma by Age

Background: Approximately 16% of Veterans experience military sexual trauma (MST), defined as sexual assault or harassment experienced during military service (Wilson, 2018). In 1999, the Veteran Affairs Healthcare System established screening procedures for MST, created an MST coordinator to assist impacted Veterans with connecting to services, and offered free mental health and medical care for conditions related to MST. As screening for MST has expanded, Veterans of varying ages and time since discharge from the military are seeking care for mental health conditions resulting from MST. Veterans across life stages may possess differing resources and face unique stressors that impact their ability to engage in mental health treatment.

Aims: The present study sought to better understand age-related differences in the socioecological contexts of Veterans seeking mental health treatment following MST in the domains of spirituality, supportive relationships, interpersonal violence, economic sufficiency, and housing.

Methods: From 2009-2019, Veterans (N = 640) seeking mental health services following exposure to MST attended evaluation and treatment planning sessions at a Midwestern VHA PTSD specialty clinic. Veterans completed semi-structured interviews that included surveys and diagnostic screenings to assess psychosocial needs and resources. Study personnel extracted data from medical record assessment notes to obtain relevant diagnostic, psychosocial, and demographic information. One-way ANOVA was used to contrast the ages of Veterans endorsing ecological resources of interest. Logistic regression was used to contrast the ages of Veterans across three ordinal levels of economic sufficiency.

Results: Results revealed several significant differences. First, Veterans who endorsed spiritual beliefs were significantly older than those who did not. Regarding interpersonal relationships, 70% of Veterans reported having a support system. Veterans who reported having a support system were significantly younger than Veterans who denied having a support system. Less than half (46%) of Veteran reported having peer relationships. Among Veterans who had peer relationships, there were significant age differences such that Veterans who endorsed frequent interaction with their peers were significantly older than those who did not. Regarding interpersonal violence, Veterans who reported exposure to interpersonal violence in the past year were significantly younger. There were not age-related differences in economic sufficiency and stable housing. However, over half of Veterans (57%) endorsed financial difficulties.

Conclusion: Greater clarity about age-related differences in the socioecological contexts of Veterans can support clinicians in providing responsive mental health treatment and connecting Veterans to additional VA resources following MST.