The behavioral health of minority active duty service members / Eunice C. Wong, Sarah O. Meadows, Terry L. Schell, Wing Yi Chan, Lisa H. Jaycox, Karen Chan Osilla, Megan S. Schuler, Elizabeth Roth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wong, Eunice C., author.

Schell, Terry L., 1967- author.

Chan, Wing Yi, author.

Jaycox, Lisa, author.

Osilla, Karen Chan, author.

Schuler, Megan S., author.

Roth, Elizabeth, author.

Contributor:

Meadows, Sarah O. (Sarah Opal), 1978- $e author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Armed Forces--Minorities--Mental health.

United States.

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, Calif. RAND Corporation 2020

Summary:

Behavioral health disparities, in which socially disadvantaged groups—such as racial/ethnic minorities, women, and sexual-orientation minorities—experience greater risk for certain mental health and substance use problems, are well documented in the general population. Less is known about whether similar behavioral health disparities exist among military service members. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) desires to understand whether the behavioral health disparities seen in the civilian population also exist in the military, as this knowledge is important to helping DoD target its efforts to address the needs of service members and improve force readiness. To investigate this issue, the authors examined (1) whether minority-group service members are more likely to experience mental health and substance use problems relative to their majority counterparts in the military and (2) whether minority–majority group differences in behavioral health in the military are similar to or different from those in the civilian population. The authors used data from the 2015 Health Related Behaviors Survey, the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the 2015 and 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the 2015 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Behavioral health outcomes include mental health (e.g., depression, suicide behaviors, posttraumatic stress disorder) and substance use (e.g., problematic alcohol use, tobacco use) conditions.

Contents:

Introduction

Literature Review: Minority Group Differences in Behavioral Health Outcomes

Factors Related to Military Minority Group Differences in Behavioral Health Outcomes

Military Versus Civilian Comparisons in Behavioral Health Outcomes

Key Findings and Policy Implications

Appendix A: Methodology

Appendix B: Mental Health Care Service Utilization Among Minority Active Duty Service.