Financial Security As a Predictor of Well-Being Profiles In U.S. Veterans

Background and Purpose: Financial security is a well-established predictor of health and mental health outcomes. Veterans are disproportionately vulnerable to financial insecurity during the transition from military to civilian life, placing them at heightened risk for poor mental and physical health outcomes. However, less is known about how financial security relates to broader dimensions of post-service wellbeing beyond clinical health outcomes, including purpose, loneliness, social support, and somatic symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between financial security and these broader wellbeing outcomes in U.S. veterans.

Methods: Data were collected from 3,188 Southern California veterans through online surveys. A latent profile (LPA) modelling approach was used to test for subgroups of individuals with distinct patterns of wellbeing indexed by loneliness, social support, purpose, and somatic symptoms variables. Models were estimated iteratively with one profile added at each iteration using full information maximum likelihood with robust standard errors to account for potential non-normality. Models were compared on key fit indices and the final model selected based on fit, parsimony, and explanatory value. Following latent profile model selection, the automatic three-step procedure, where latent profile assignments are fixed from the final measurement model and regressed on a predictor, was used to test whether financial security predicted latent class membership.

Results: A four-class solution yielded the best balance of parsimony and fit. A Flourishing profile (n = 1,098; 34.6%) was characterized by very low loneliness, high social support and purpose, and low somatic symptoms. A Moderately Well profile (n = 711; 22.4%) showed slightly below sample average loneliness with above average social support and purpose. An At Risk profile (n = 626; 19.7%) was characterized by moderately elevated loneliness, below average social support and purpose, and elevated somatic symptoms. The Most Distressed profile (n = 742; 23.4%) displayed the highest loneliness, lowest social support and purpose, and above average somatic symptoms. Financial wellbeing significantly predicted membership in the Moderately Well and Flourishing profiles relative to the Most Distressed profile, with higher financial wellbeing associated with greater odds of membership in both profiles. Financial wellbeing did not significantly predict membership in the At Risk profile relative to the Most Distressed profile.

Conclusion and Implications: Results demonstrated that financial security distinguished veteran profiles defined by high and moderate levels of wellbeing from the most distressed profile, supporting a link between financial health and overall wellbeing. Service members often leave the military with unmet financial burdens and face the high cost of transition. Thus, interventions aimed at improving financial health, in addition to those aimed at mental and physical health, may contribute to post-service wellbeing. It is important to note that financial security did not distinguish between the At Risk and Most Distressed profiles in these data; this suggests that the threshold where financial security impacts wellbeing may not be limited to the lowest levels of financial security.