Brothers and sisters in arms: a mixed methods investigation of the roles played by military support and social identity processes in the mental health of veterans during the transition to veterancy

Wakefield, JRH ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9155-9683, Bowe, M, Kellezi, B ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4825-3624, Haslam, C, Bentley, S, Milani, Z ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4812-9714, Gair, H ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0591-4552 and McIntosh, J, 2023. Brothers and sisters in arms: a mixed methods investigation of the roles played by military support and social identity processes in the mental health of veterans during the transition to veterancy. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology. ISSN 1052-9284

Preview

Text 1829457_Wakefield.pdf - Published version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The transition to veterancy can be psychologically challenging, and although the military provides support, the importance of social connectedness for wellbeing is largely unrecognised. The significance of this oversight is highlighted by the Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC), which conceptualises life change as social identity change. SIMIC has been applied to numerous life transitions, but not to veterancy, although there is evidence that the social and psychological challenges of this transition may be especially profound (e.g., due to the chronically salient, highly structured, and largely unique nature of military life and identity). To remedy this, in Study 1 (N = 210) UK-based veterans completed an online survey. Consistent with SIMIC, social group maintenance and gain predicted mental health via the psychological resources they provided (meaning, self-esteem, sense of personal control), and group gain was predicted by perceived military support during the transition. Study 2 (N = 14) extended these findings qualitatively through exploration of veterans’ transition experiences. These studies are the first to apply aspects of the SIMIC to the veterancy transition, and they show the applicability of SIMIC in this context. They also highlight the need for transition-related education that includes guidance on group joining and reconnecting. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article’s Community and Social Impact Statement.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology
Creators:	Wakefield, J.R.H., Bowe, M., Kellezi, B., Haslam, C., Bentley, S., Milani, Z., Gair, H. and McIntosh, J.
Publisher:	Wiley
Date:	16 November 2023
ISSN:	1052-9284
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1002/casp.2756 DOI 1829457 Other
Rights:	© 2023 the authors. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	01 Nov 2023 16:57
Last Modified:	21 Nov 2023 13:11
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/50211

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads