ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1571625
The Mediating Role of PERMA in the Relationship Between Social Role Engagement and Drug Abuse Problems Among Veterans with Mental Illness
Provisionally accepted
- 1The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, United States
- 2University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
- 3University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
- 4Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States
- 5Audie L. Murphy VA Medical Center, San Antonio, United States
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Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a critical issue among veterans, often co-occurring with mental illnesses and negatively impacting their well-being. This study explores the mediating role of well-being, as conceptualized by the PERMA model, in the relationship between ability to engage in social roles and activities and degree of problems related to drug abuse among veterans.Methods: Data were collected from 156 veterans with self-reported mental health conditions. A parallel multiple mediation analysis using PROCESS macro assessed the role of PERMA components in mediating the relationship between ability to engage in social roles and activities and degree of problems related to drug abuse.Results: Ability to engage in social roles and activities was positively correlated with overall well-being (r = .49, p < .05) and negatively correlated with degree of problems related to drug abuse (r = -.19, p < .05). Mediation analysis revealed that PERMA fully mediated the relationship between ability to engage in social roles and activities and degree of problems related to drug abuse, with accomplishment emerging as a significant indirect pathway (Effect = -0.05). The model explained 17% of the variance in degree of problems related to drug abuse.Conclusions: Findings underscore the importance of well-being, particularly accomplishment, in the relationship between veterans' ability to engage in social roles and activities and degree of problems related to drug abuse. Interventions integrating well-being frameworks may offer holistic approaches to recovery for veterans with SUDs and mental illnesses. Future research should explore longitudinal effects of PERMA-focused interventions.
Keywords: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt, Font color: Custom Color(RGB(34, 34, 34)), English (United States) veterans, Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), PERMA model
Received: 05 Feb 2025; Accepted: 14 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Campa, Solis, Koc, Granger, Lee and Umucu. 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
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