Family/household characteristics and positive mental health of Canadian military members: mediation through social support

Abstract

Introduction: The characteristics of one's social environment, including one's family or household composition, are recognized determinants of health and well-being. At the same time, a great deal of research has demonstrated the positive effect of social support on mental health in military populations. Methods: The aim of the current study was to provide a description of the various family/household characteristics of a sample of 6,696 CAF Regular Force members, including their marital status, living arrangement, and number of dependants, as well as the relationships of these characteristics with positive mental health (PMH). In addition, this study explored the role of social support as a possible mediating mechanism in these relationships. Results: Without accounting for levels of social support, it was found that service members who were married or in a common-law relationship demonstrated higher PMH, while those who were separated or divorced demonstrated lower PMH compared to their single counterparts. PMH also differed by living arrangement, with higher levels reported by service members living with others. Further analysis revealed that greater PMH reported by service members who were married or in a common-law relationship or who live with others could be attributed to their higher levels of social support. Discussion: Taken together, results emphasize the importance of social support as one of the mechanisms involved in the relationship between PMH and family/household composition. Given the limited research available on the combined effect of a variety of family/household factors, results of this work fill an important gap in the literature on the understanding of more complex relationships among these factors.