The Role of Social Support and Coping Strategies on Mental Health of a Group of Iranian Disabled War Veterans

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the role of social support on the mental health of disabled war veterans alongside the role of physical disability and deployment type. The second aim of the study was to examine the relationship between coping strategies and mental health. METHOD: 85 disabled Iranian war veterans participated in this study. All of the participants were asked to complete the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS),Social Support Survey, Impact of Event-Revised Scale (IES-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), The Short Form (SF-36) Health Survey Questionnaire, and Brief COPE Scale. RESULTS: The results showed that social support had a significant contribution on the mental health of the participants above and beyond the physical disability and deployment type. The physical disability also predicted the mental health of veterans, but deployment type did not have any significant contribution on mental health of the participants. The findings also showed that those veterans who used constructive coping strategies had better mental health status. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that after more than twenty years of war, social support still plays an important role in the life of Iranian disabled war veterans.