Date of Award
1-1-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Psychology
First Advisor
Stefan E. Schulenberg
Second Advisor
Aaron Lee
Third Advisor
Sarah Bilsky
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
Each year, approximately 46.3 million Americans are diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD), which costs the United States healthcare system approximately $13 billion in annual costs. One group particularly at risk for SUD is veterans due to the unique stressors that veterans face (e.g., being apart from loved ones, exposure to life threatening events, transitioning between military and civilian life) and a military culture that often reinforces maladaptive patterns of substance use. Little research has been done to examine substance use as a negative outcome associated with the acculturative experience veterans face when transitioning from military life back to civilian life. The present study provides clarity on the relationship between acculturation and substance use amongst veterans using four brief, psychometrically sound military-adapted acculturation measures. As part of a larger series of studies, 281 veterans (predominantly white, male, army veterans) completed survey measures on acculturation, substance use, and psychological distress. It was hypothesized the acculturation variables would predict substance use above and beyond depression, anxiety, stress, time since discharge, and length of active-duty status. However, results of a logistic regression analysis and subsequent relative weight analysis revealed that stress was the only significant and most important predictor of substance use in this sample. Exploratory mediation analyses found that certain acculturation variables (i.e., sociocultural adaptation, perceived cultural distance, and psychological adaptation) predict substance use through stress. Future research should continue utilizing a mediation framework when examining acculturation and mental health outcomes and replicate the current study with a more comprehensive measure of substance use.
Recommended Citation
Hampton, Brittany, "Substance Use Amongst Veterans Following Post-Deployment Reintegration: An Examination Through the Lens of Acculturation" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2938.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2938