Soldier Attitudes about Technology-Based Approaches to Mental Health Care

Abstract

Technology-based treatments (e.g., video teleconferencing, Internet-based treatments, and virtual reality) are promising approaches to reducing some barriers that Soldiers often face to receiving necessary mental health care. However, Soldiers' knowledge and experiences with such technologies are unknown, and there is no research on their acceptability for use in military mental health care. The current study examined 352 U.S. Soldiers' knowledge of and attitudes toward using technology to access mental health care. Results indicated that Soldiers were quite experienced with a wide variety of technology-based tools commonly proposed to facilitate mental health care. In addition, the majority of participants stated that they would be willing to use nearly every technology-based approach for mental health care included in the survey. Notably, 33% of Soldiers who were not willing to talk to a counselor in person were willing to utilize at least one of the technologies for mental health care. These results support the feasibility of using technology-based approaches as a means to overcome barriers to care.