U.S. military veterans face unique stressors, such as combat, and experience various health conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), that can negatively affect multiple aspects of functioning.
For more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been implementing its Whole Health initiative, a holistic, personalized approach to health care that aims to sustain functioning and enhance well-being in veterans.
To help inform the ongoing delivery of Whole Health, a new study led by National Center for PTSD and Yale researchers analyzed data from a large, population-based sample of U.S. to identify factors—both positive and negative—associated with mental, physical, psychosocial, and .
were published online August 9 in . "We have a general understanding of factors that can adversely affect functioning, such as chronic medical conditions, sleep problems, and PTSD symptoms. There is also evidence that positive psychological traits, such as purpose in life and optimism, can help bolster functioning," said lead author Ian C.
Fischer, Ph.D., and postdoctoral fellow with Yale's Department of Psychiatry and the National Center for PTSD.
"However, little is known about whether certain vulnerability or resilience factors matter more for specific kinds of functioning, or whether they interact to shape functioning." The authors found that , total number of medical conditions, and insomnia were most strongly associated with physical functioning. For mental, p.