Happiness in US military veterans: Results from a nationally representative study

In line with the US Department of Veterans Affairs' adoption of a Whole Health approach to healthcare, there has been growing interest in factors linked to veterans' perceptions of well-being. To date, no known study has examined levels and correlates of perceived happiness in this populat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2024-12, Vol.19 (12), p.e0313609
Main Authors: Kang, Hun, Fischer, Ian C, Na, Peter J, Pietrzak, Robert H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
Adult
Adverse childhood experiences
Aged
Armed forces
Biology and Life Sciences
Demographic aspects
Depression - epidemiology
Depression - psychology
Design
Education
Emotions
Ethnicity
Family income
Federal agencies
Female
Happiness
Health aspects
Households
Humans
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental depression
Mental health
Middle Aged
Military personnel
Optimism
Perceptions
Performance evaluation
Population studies
Post traumatic stress disorder
Psychological aspects
Psychological factors
Regression analysis
Resilience
Resilience, Psychological
Social Sciences
Social support
Sociodemographics
Stability
Surveys and Questionnaires
United States
Variables
Veterans
Veterans - psychology
Well being
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Summary:In line with the US Department of Veterans Affairs' adoption of a Whole Health approach to healthcare, there has been growing interest in factors linked to veterans' perceptions of well-being. To date, no known study has examined levels and correlates of perceived happiness in this population. To examine this question, we analyzed data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 4,069 US military veterans. Overall, veterans reported mean happiness scores of 5.41 out of 7. Greater purpose in life was the strongest correlate of happiness, followed by lower severity of depressive symptoms, and higher optimism, emotional stability, and resilience. Among veterans who screened positive for depression, those who scored higher on measures of optimism, emotional stability, and resilience reported greater happiness. Interventions to leverage these modifiable psychosocial characteristics may help promote happiness and subjective well-being in this population.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0313609