The development and implications of peer emotional support for student service members/veterans and civilian college students.

Abstract

Student service members/veterans represent a growing population on college campuses. Despite this growth, scholarly investigations into their health- and adjustment-related issues are almost nonexistent. The limited research that is available suggests that student service members/veterans may have trouble connecting with their civilian counterparts and be at risk for social isolation. The present study compared the development and implications of emotional support from peers among 199 student service members/veterans and 181 civilian students through 3 distinct occasions over the course of 1 calendar year. Data were collected via electronic survey. Measured constructs included perceived emotional support from university friends, mental health, alcohol use, and academic functioning. A series of multilevel models revealed that student service members/veterans reported less emotional support from their peers compared with their civilian counterparts; yet, emotional support from peers increased similarly for both groups over time. Although, increasing peer emotional support was generally related to better academic and mental health outcomes for both groups, the links between emotional support and mental health were stronger for civilian students. Results suggest that mental health practitioners, particularly those on college campuses, should be prepared to deal with veteran-specific experiences that occur before and during college.

Veterans’ Perspectives on the Psychosocial Impact of Killing in War

“…Here, there is an obligation not only to connect veterans with other veterans, but also to create the opportunity for civilians and veterans to engage one another in meaningful, nonjudgmental discussions about the significance of war and the impact of war's violence. Our findings echo existing research about the potential value of familial and social support beyond just the veteran community (Romero et al, 2015;Whiteman, Barry, Mroczek, & MacDermid Wadsworth, 2013). Counseling psychologists and mental health professionals can work to cultivate this support by participating in or organizing public educational events, humanities-focused engagements, volunteer opportunities, and other creative community venues that are focused on learning about war and the military experience, with a particular focus on the moral concerns that can arise for, and sometimes haunt, combat veterans.…”

Military-Connected Student Academic Success at 4-Year Institutions: A Multi-Institution Study

“…Military experience is an additional level of identity military-connected students must navigate during their transition to college (DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011). Many identity factors included in this study have been explored in literature related to military-connected students' transition experiences, including sex and gender (Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009;Demers, 2013;DiRamio & Jarvis, 2011;DiRamio, Jarvis, Iverson, Seher & Anderson, 2015), first-generation student status (Durdella & Kim, 2012), and family (having a spouse, partner and/or dependent children) (Whiteman et al, 2013). Although the role of ethnicity for military-connected students has not been highly researched, almost 40% of military-connected students identify as non-White Beyond social identity characteristics, extant literature has explored the role of deployment (DiRamio et al, 2008;Rumann & Hamrick, 2010) and service-related injury or disability (Kraus & Rattray, 2013;Schiavone & Gentry, 2014).…”

An Analysis of Supports for Persistence for the Military Student Population

“…Currently, universities stress the need to develop structures to provide transition, social support, emotional connection and financial advice (Burnett & Segoria, 2009;Selber & Chavkin, 2014;Summerlot, Green, & Parker, 2009;Whiteman, Barry, Mroczek, & MacDermid Wadsworth, 2013). A recent survey showed that 76% of universities had a military affairs program to manage these mechanisms, 60% expected these to be long term arrangements, and most had set long-term goals to expand programs and provide extensive marketing to the military student population (Cook & Kim, 2009).…”