(PS10-57) Scoping Review of the Role of Social Support in Women Veterans’ Psychosocial and Health Outcomes

Background. Women are a growing segment of the veteran population. Though expected to grow from 9.4% to 16.3% by 2042, their experiences as a minority group remain unique. For instance, women are underrepresented in military leadership roles, prone to social isolation during deployment, and experience high rates of sexual harassment and assault while serving. Moreover, women service members experience unique family expectations as traditional primary caretakers, and separation from family may contribute to interpersonal difficulties both during and after deployment. High levels of social support have been linked to a range of positive outcomes (e.g., decreased morbidity/mortality, lowered risk of mental health diagnoses) in both civilian and military populations. However, research has not consistently explored social support and interpersonal functioning in women veterans, or as potential mechanisms of change within interventions for women veterans. Procedure. Scoping review of peer-reviewed articles that evaluated social support. Articles with at least 10% women or that formally evaluated sex or gender in reference to social support were included. Six team members contributed and worked in dyads to screen titles and abstracts against inclusion criteria and then to conduct in-depth reviews. Results. A total of 429 studies were screened and 69 met inclusion criteria and evaluated social support in relation to women veterans’ health outcomes. Themes identified included how social support relates to PTSD and other MH conditions; sex and gender differences in support; the relationships among support, service utilization, and physical health; and links between support, reintegration, and homelessness. From a biopsychosocial perspective, social support is an important construct to examine relative to health care engagement and response. The literature demonstrated that this community desires and requests care focused on addressing social support. Yet limited research considered aging women veterans’ needs or focused on the intersectional identities of women veterans highlighting potential gaps in knowledge and in turn care. Conclusions. Social support can have major physical and mental health benefits that can be capitalized on to address community needs and advance cognitive behavioral therapy approaches, yet limited research and disparate methodological approaches minimize the ability to draw conclusions on how support can best be leveraged to support women veterans and their mental health care needs. Recommendations for future research include: 1) Increased consistency in the operationalization of social support by increased utilization of standardized measures as opposed to proxies (e.g., relationship status) or brief/single-item assessments; 2) Formal evaluation of social support in treatment trials as a potential influence on treatment engagement; 3) Increased representation of women veterans in research on social support; and 4) Acknowledgment of how intersectional identities (e.g., race, age, sexuality) may differentially impact the availability and perception of social support. Research is needed to inform best practices for this growing segment of the Veteran population.