Employment status among US military veterans with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Abstract

The current study examined the prevalence and correlates of employment status in a nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans with a probable lifetime history of posttraumatic stress disorder. Participants were 4,609 veterans from National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS) Bivariate analyses compared the employment status of veterans with regard to sociodemographic, military, health, and psychiatric characteristics. A multinomial regression analysis was conducted to determine the effect of lifetime PTSD status on employment and identify variables that differentiated employment status among veterans with a history of PTSD. In the total sample, 450 (weighted 12.5%) screened positive for lifetime PTSD. Veterans with PTSD were more than twice as likely to be unemployed, OR = 2.41, and retired, OR = 2.26, and nearly 4 times as likely to be disabled, OR = 3.84, relative to those without PTSD. Among veterans with PTSD, 203 (54.0%) were employed, 178 were retired (28.2%), 31 (7.3%) were unemployed, and 38 (10.5%) were disabled. Relative to employed veterans, retired veterans were older and reported more medical conditions; unemployed veterans were almost 5 times as likely to be female; disabled veterans reported lower income, more medical conditions, and more severe symptoms of current major depressive disorder but less severe symptoms of alcohol use disorder, ORs = 0.88–4.88. This study provides an up-to-date characterization of employment status in a nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans with a history of PTSD. Results may inform efforts to provide sustainable employment in this segment of the population.