Perceived Stigma among Service Members and Veterans: An Archival Study of Chaplains’ Perspectives

Abstract

This archival study utilized descriptive, correlational, and chi-square analyses to examine data from a recent self-report survey of 2,163 military and veteran chaplains (Nieuwsma et al., 2013). Data trends were explored between U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) samples and subsamples, targeting frequencies in populations encountered, perceived mental health problems, and perceived stigma-related and non-stigma-related avoidance of mental health professionals/providers (MHPs). Relationship/ Family stress, work stress, and concern of harm to career or differential treatment from leadership occurred most frequently in DoD subsamples. Avoidance of MHPs was perceived by higher percentages of chaplains who served the DoD than chaplains in the VA sample. A higher average percentage of chaplains who served the Air Force perceived non-stigma-related avoidance of MHPs than did chaplains of other subsamples. Non-stigma-related avoidance of MHPs was perceived by a slightly higher average percentage of VA and DoD chaplains than was stigma-related avoidance. A small correlation was found in the Army sample between “sometimes” perceiving posttraumatic stress in clients and “frequently” encountering veterans who avoid MHPs in order to avoid potential harm to their career.