College of Health Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA.
Stress Health. 2024 Jun;40(3):e3339. doi: 10.1002/smi.3339. Epub 2023 Oct 24.
The purpose of this study is to examine group differences between employed and unemployed Veterans with mental illnesses utilizing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) emotion toolbox factors including negative affect, psychological well-being, stress, and social relationships. Data was collected from three samples from 2018 to 2020. The first sample (Sample 1) is 156 Veterans with mental illness from Amazon MTurk; the second sample (Sample 2), recruited from a higher education institution, is 232 veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms; and the final sample (Sample 3), recruited from a higher education institution, is 129 Veterans with disabilities, including psychiatric disabilities. Independent-samples t-tests were carried out to test our objectives. Sample 1 results revealed that employed Veterans with mental illnesses had lower levels of depression and stress and higher levels of positive emotion, life satisfaction, meaning in life, and social relationships compared to unemployed Veterans. Sample 2 results revealed that employed Veterans with PTDS symptoms had lower levels of stress and higher levels of positive emotion and lower levels of stress compared to unemployed Veterans with PTSD symptoms. Sample 3 results revealed that employed Veterans with disabilities including psychiatric disabilities had lower levels of depression and higher levels of positive emotion and social relationships. Our findings are consistent with the previous research documenting that employment plays a central role in optimal psychological and physical health in both civilians and veterans.
本研究旨在利用美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）的情绪工具箱因素，包括负性情绪、心理幸福感、压力和社会关系，检验有精神疾病的在业和失业退伍军人之间的群体差异。数据来自 2018 年至 2020 年的三个样本。第一个样本（样本 1）是来自亚马逊 Mechanical Turk 的 156 名有精神疾病的退伍军人；第二个样本（样本 2）是从一所高等教育机构招募的 232 名有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）症状的退伍军人；最后一个样本（样本 3）是从一所高等教育机构招募的 129 名有残疾的退伍军人，包括精神残疾。进行了独立样本 t 检验来检验我们的目标。样本 1 的结果表明，与失业退伍军人相比，有精神疾病的在业退伍军人的抑郁和压力水平较低，积极情绪、生活满意度、生活意义和社会关系水平较高。样本 2 的结果表明，与有 PTSD 症状的失业退伍军人相比，有 PTSD 症状的在业退伍军人的压力水平较低，积极情绪和压力水平较高。样本 3 的结果表明，包括精神残疾在内的残疾退伍军人的抑郁水平较低，积极情绪和社会关系水平较高。我们的发现与先前的研究一致，即就业在平民和退伍军人的最佳心理和身体健康中起着核心作用。
