Background: Despite growing concerns about the mental health of professional military personnel, little is known about protective factors for mental health among military officers and non-commissioned

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 4 representative gaps

• A Comparative Study of Veterans' Sexual Trauma Experiences Over Time (2024) · doi

  Veterans from these two studies have given insightful suggestions on how to improve their care. A lot of the subjects mentioned therapy and counseling was and is needed for continued improvement in their recovery. However, Veterans often have to face multiple barriers to obtain mental healthcare services at the VA, so improvement is needed in order to make counseling and therapy more accessible [27-29]. Subjects from both studies mentioned that military culture makes the reporting of MST difficult. Previous studies have shown how military culture is an important aspect in the relationship between patients and mental healthcare providers and plays a role in Veterans’ reluctance to seek treatment for mental illness or distress [30,31]. Reducing the stigma for mental health treatment among military culture is an important area to tackle in order to increase satisfaction in mental health treatment [32]. Also, subjects in these studies mentioned that underage drinking was one cause for assault and many chose to not report their assault because of the fear of being reprimanded for underaged drinking. If military culture adapts more of a concern for the health and mental wellbeing of military personnel, victims may be more motivated to report their MST. Further education or initiatives to address this problem would validate the victims and help start their recovery process. Because of the changes we found in the perpetrators of the MST, it would also be helpful to implement more trainings and education about MST to all active military members, and not only those in supervisor roles. Since our studies were exploratory in nature, more questions have been raised that will need to be addressed in future research studies. The characteristics of the assault, such as severity or frequency, were not covered in depth by our questionnaire, though this information would be valuable in our understanding of recovery from MST as assault characteristics are shown to impact outcomes such as the development of PTSD [33,34]. From speaking with the subjects, we did observe that subjects in Study 1 seemed to mention experiencing more violent attacks such as gang rapes. It would be worth collecting more information about this to see if this has affected recovery over time. Also, additional information on what VA resources the Veterans in the studies utilized to support their recovery would help us identify the strengths and weaknesses of our current system. Finally, as action and policy change regarding MST are continuously evolving, there is a need for further investigation of future changes.

  Keywords: mental military subjects recovery veterans culture assault mentioned treatment health information therapy counseling needed improvement
• Deployment of personnel to military operations: impact on mental health and social functioning (2018) · doi

  Plain language summary Deployment to military operations negatively affects the mental health functioning of deployed military personnel While additional research is needed, the current evidence strongly supports the notion that deployment negatively affects mental health functioning of deployed military personnel.

  Keywords: military deployment negatively affects mental health functioning deployed personnel plain language summary operations additional needed
• Homelessness Among Veterans: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Physical Health, and the Cumulative Trauma of Military Sexual Assault (2021) · doi

  Objective: The current literature does not account for how homeless experiences in combination with military sexual assault (MSA) are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and physical health among military veterans.

  Keywords: military objective current literature account homeless experiences combination sexual assault associated posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd
• Extrinsic and Intrinsic Determinants of Depression and Mental Well-Being among Korean Army Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (2026) · doi

  Background: Despite growing concerns about the mental health of professional military personnel, little is known about protective factors for mental health among military officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs).

  Keywords: mental health military officers background despite growing concerns professional personnel little known protective factors among