Grit is associated with decreased mental health help-seeking among student veterans

Abstract

Objective: To examine the role of grit as a mediator of the relationship between student-veteran status and not seeking mental health help. Participants: A diverse and nationally representative sample of students (8,203 women, 4,934 men) from 18 U.S. colleges and universities included in the Understanding Student Distress and Academic Success study was used. Method: Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to assess associations between military service, grit, and help seeking. Results: Military service was positively associated with both facets of grit: consistency of interests (CI) and perseverance of effort (PE). CI, but not PE, mediated the relationship between military service and never having sought mental health help. Conclusions: These results suggest that grit mediates the relationship between military service and not seeking mental health help. Interventions for student-veterans that emphasize the utility of mental health treatment may be useful to diminish the negative influence of grit on help-seeking.

Keywords:

• Grit
• help-seeking
• mental health
• veterans

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of The United States of America and received approval from the University of Texas at Austin.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.