https://aub.ie/MilitaryREACH-YandD2022

Yeterian, J. D., & Dutra, S. J. (2023). Psychologist veteran status as a predictor of veterans' willingness to engage in psychotherapy. Military Psychology, 35(1), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2022.2066937

This study examined Veterans’ (N = 414) perceptions of psychologists illustrated in 4 hypothetical vignettes. The only differences among vignettes were psychologists’ Veteran status (i.e., Veteran vs. non-Veteran) and gender. Specifically, psychologists’ Veteran status and gender were hypothesized to influence Veterans’ ratings of a psychologist (e.g., the psychologist’s abilities to help and understand Veterans, Veterans’ comfort seeing the psychologist). Overall, Veterans rated Veteran psychologists higher than non-Veteran psychologists regardless of psychologists’ gender. Moreover, Veterans preferred to see Veteran psychologists rather than non-Veteran psychologists regardless of which vignette they read.

https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2022.2066937

Veterans
Mental health

Multiple branches

Veteran

Veteran
Military medical service providers

Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)

Cross sectional study
Quantitative Study

Yeterian, Julie D., Dutra, Sunny J.

Many veterans experience difficulties with mental health and functioning, yet many do not seek treatment and dropout rates are high. A small body of literature suggests that veterans prefer to work with providers or peer support specialists who are also veterans. Research with trauma-exposed veterans suggests that some veterans prefer to work with female providers. In an experimental study with 414 veterans, we examined whether veterans’ ratings of a psychologist (e.g., helpfulness, ability to understand the participant, likelihood of making an appointment) described in a vignette were impacted by the psychologist’s veteran status and gender. Results indicated that veterans who read about a veteran psychologist rated the psychologist as more able to help and understand them, reported being more willing to see and more comfortable seeing the psychologist, and reported greater belief that they should see the psychologist, relative to those who read about a non-veteran psychologist. Contrary to hypotheses, there was no main effect of psychologist gender nor any interaction between psychologist gender and psychologist veteran status on ratings. Findings suggest that having access to mental health providers who are also veterans may reduce barriers to treatment-seeking among veteran patients.

Taylor & Francis

Article
REACH Publication

Clinical Psychology Department, William James College, JDY
Clinical Psychology Department, William James College, SJD