Age Differences in the Association of Social Support and Mental Health in Male U.S. Veterans: Results From the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Objective: To examine the associations between multiple aspects of social support-perceived support, structural support, and community integration-and mental health difficulties in younger and older male veterans. Drawing from Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST), we hypothesized that greater support would be more strongly negatively related to mental health difficulties in older than younger veterans.

Design: Cross-sectional Web survey of younger and older male veterans recruited from a contemporary, nationally representative sample of veterans residing in the United States.

Setting: Data were drawn from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.

Participants: Participants were 290 younger male veterans (mean age: 37.0 years, SD: 6.9, range: 21-46) and 326 older male veterans (mean age: 81.7 years, SD: 3.2, range: 78-96).

Measurements: Participants completed measures of sociodemographic and military characteristics, perceived and structural social support, community integration, and mental health difficulties.

Results: In contrast to SST, higher perceived support was associated with fewer mental health difficulties in younger but not older veterans. In line with SST, community integration was associated with fewer mental health difficulties in older but not younger veterans. Structural support was not associated with mental health difficulties in either group.

Conclusion: Results of this study provide mixed support for SST and suggest that different aspects of social support may help promote the mental health of younger and older male U.S. veterans. Promotion of community engagement may help promote mental health in older veterans, whereas promotion of functional social support may help promote mental health in younger veterans.