Well-Being, PTSD, College Adjustment in Student Veterans With and Without Disabilities

Emre Umucu,Chung-Yi Chiu,Antonio Reyes,Joao Ferreira-Pinto,Thenral Mangadu,Jessica Brooks,Fong Chan,Beatrice Lee

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.793286

Abstract

We examined mediating effects of the pillars of well-being (i.e., positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment) on the relationship between PTSD symptoms and college life adjustment for student veterans. We recruited 205 student veterans. Mediation analysis was conducted to test whether the pillars of well-being mediate the relationship between PTSD and college life adjustment. The results showed that positive emotion and accomplishment had mediating effects on the relationship between PTSD symptoms and college adjustment.

Highlights

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is very common disability among student veterans, with up to 45.6% of student veterans reporting PTSD symptoms (Rudd et al, 2011)
We found that 1) functional limitations mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and college adjustment (Umucu et al, Forthcoming 2022) and 2) COVID-19-related stress mediated the relationship between PTSD symptoms and college adjustment in student veterans with PTSD symptoms (Umucu et al, under review1)
Two of the five putative mediators were significantly associated with the college life adjustment, βs (95%CIs) 0.31 (0.13, 0.51) for positive emotion and 0.32 (0.19, 0.46) for accomplishment, while statistically controlling for the PTSD symptoms

Summary

Introduction

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is very common disability among student veterans, with up to 45.6% of student veterans reporting PTSD symptoms (Rudd et al, 2011). PTSD may negatively impact student veterans’ well-being and, in turn, adjustment to college life (Elliot, 2015). Relatively little is known about the relationships among PTSD, pillars of the well-being, college adjustment through the lens of contemporary theories. Umucu et al (2020a) found that PERMA is a multidimensional construct to understand wellbeing in student veterans with and without disabilities. PERMA predicted college adjustment, physical and mental health quality of life, and life satisfaction in student veterans. PERMA was found to be positively associated with hope (Umucu et al, 2020b), optimism and resilience (Umucu et al, 2018), and negatively associated with depression and anxiety (Umucu et al, 2018). The relationship between PERMA and PTSD was not examined in student veterans

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Conclusion