The article below may contain offensive and/or incorrect content.
Rural-urban disparities in the prevalence of mental disorders and in access to mental health care among veterans have been documented, but no consistent pattern has emerged. Mixed research findings may be because of broad distinctions between rural and urban that mask intrarural variation in veteran mental health. This study explored the extent to which location and veteran status predict lifetime prevalence of mental illness (depression and anxiety or panic attacks), delayed help seeking for an emotional problem, binge drinking, and general health. We analyzed survey data from a regionally representative survey of residents of 9 counties in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin (N = 4,050). Generalized linear models were used to analyze the effects of veteran status, location, and an interaction term on 5 dependent variables. Veterans in the sample (n = 124) were more rural, older, and more male than nonveterans. Within the subgroup of veterans, those who lived in the most rural areas reported the lowest lifetime prevalence of depression and the best general health. Compared with nonveterans, veterans living in the least rural areas reported poorer general health and significantly higher lifetime rates of depression. Our findings show a health advantage for the most rural veterans, extending previous research by analyzing intrarural variation in a community-based sample of veterans. Analyses of more refined geographic categories are needed to identify meaningful disparity patterns and inform community-based interventions to promote veteran mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)





Departments
Authors
Libraries
Current Articles
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Scientific Meeting » Workshop: Gene-based Therapeutics for Rare Genetic Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Disorders
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Guiding gender-atypical kids through puberty
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Pandemic worsens child mental health crisis
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Being heard is more important to some people than following COVID-19 regulations
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Workaholics at a greater risk of depression
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Can kids have seasonal affective disorder?
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Video » NIMH Expert Dr. Krystal Lewis Discusses Managing Stress & Anxiety
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Scientific Meeting » NIMH Livestream Event: Managing Stress and Anxiety
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: A third of Americans don't see systemic racism as a barrier to good health
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: The challenge of pandemic fatigue is hitting people hard
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How and why to take a break from the news
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: What brain imaging tells us about decluttering our minds
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Blog Post » Showing Support for Basic Researchers
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How to reduce news-related stress for better mental health
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Five myths about loneliness
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How to help someone struggling with suicidal ideation
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Better sleep hygiene is crucial when you're anxious
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How to remotivate kids for more distance learning
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: How to set goals you’ll actually achieve
- Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: To 'keep sharp' this year, keep learning