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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1500659
This article is part of the Research Topic The Intersection of Psychology, Healthy Behaviors, and its Outcomes View all 29 articles

Initial Validation of a Short Version of the PERMA Profiler in a National Sample of Rural Veterans

Provisionally accepted
Emre Umucu Emre Umucu 1*Teresa Granger Teresa Granger 2Deyu Pan Deyu Pan 3Traci McGee Traci McGee 2Eunae Han Eunae Han 1Jim Yates Jim Yates 4John Barnas John Barnas 4Crystal Barter Crystal Barter 4Beatrice Lee Beatrice Lee 1
  • 1 The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
  • 2 Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling, College of Education, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
  • 3 Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Lehman, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 4 Michigan Center for Rural Health, East Lansing, Illinois, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Military veterans residing in rural areas face unique challenges that can impact their well-being, including limited access to healthcare resources, social isolation, and distinct environmental stressors. Despite growing interest in veteran well-being, there remains a gap in understanding how service-connected disabilities and health conditions intersect with well-being in rural contexts. Methods: This study employed a comprehensive approach to investigate the relationships between well-being, service-connected disabilities, and health outcomes among rural veterans. First, a short version of the PERMA Profiler was psychometrically validated for use among rural veterans. Then, associations between well-being and mental/physical health outcomes were examined. Lastly, differences in well-being between veterans with and without service-connected disabilities were evaluated. Results: The psychometric validation of the shortform PERMA Profiler yielded robust results, establishing its reliability and validity for assessing well-being among rural veterans. Significant positive associations were found between wellbeing and mental/physical health outcomes. Moreover, rural veterans with service-connected disabilities exhibited lower well-being scores compared to those without such disabilities.This study enhances our understanding of well-being among rural veterans, emphasizing the importance of considering service-connected disabilities and health conditions.The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions and support systems tailored to the specific needs of rural veterans, particularly those with service-connected disabilities.Recognizing and addressing these factors are crucial steps toward enhancing the overall wellbeing of this population.

    Keywords: Veterans, rural, service-connected disability, Well-being, PERMA

    Received: 23 Sep 2024; Accepted: 18 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Umucu, Granger, Pan, McGee, Han, Yates, Barnas, Barter and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Emre Umucu, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.