Is there more public support for US Veterans who experience homelessness and posttraumatic stress disorder than other US adults?

ABSTRACT

This study examined differences in public knowledge and attitudes about homelessness and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among US Veterans and other adults. A national online survey of 541 US adults from the general population was conducted in November 2016 about knowledge and attitudes about homelessness and PTSD both in reference to the general population and the Veteran population. Results found that participants reported more positive attitudes and endorsed more federal funding for homelessness and PTSD for Veterans than other adults. Participants also reported greater safety concerns about PTSD among Veterans than other adults. Among various background characteristics, only political identification with the Republican party was consistently associated with attitudes in favor of Veterans. The US public reports greater support for addressing homelessness and PTSD among Veterans than other adults, supporting various government and private programs dedicated to Veterans. It is important that publicly supported programs and policies must be evaluated.

KEYWORDS:

• Veterans
• homelessness
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• public attitudes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported with funding from the VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and a private donation.