Perceived barriers to seeking mental health care among united states marine corps noncommissioned officers serving as gatekeepers for suicide prevention

Reducing mental health stigma and perceived barriers to care is a necessary strategy for addressing the public health problem of suicide among the United States Armed Forces. The purpose of this study was threefold: (a) to empirically evaluate the principal component structure of the Perceived Barriers to Care (PBTC) measure; (b) to gain an understanding of the perceived barriers to seeking mental health services among Marine Corps noncommissioned officers (NCOs) selected to participate in a primary suicide prevention training program, Never Leave a Marine Behind (NLMB); and (c) to explore the relationship among sex, education, prior exposure to suicide within one's military unit, and perceived barriers to seeking mental health services. The data for the PBTC (N = 1,758) were drawn from a previously performed pretest/posttest program evaluation study of the Marine Corp's NLMB program, which took place over 6 months in 2009 (April-October). The three highest perceptions of barriers to care reported by NCOs for their Marines were related to being embarrassed, having members of one's unit have less confidence in the Marine, and concerns about being treated differently by military unit leadership. Three principal components for PBTC were identified, accounting for approximately 59% of the total variance. Higher education and prior exposure to suicide within one's military unit significantly correlated with greater perceived barriers to care; sex was not significantly correlated with greater perceived barriers to care. Implications of these findings, in relation to future research, are further discussed.