Preliminary validation of the Barriers to Employment and Coping Efficacy Scales for Veterans with a mental health condition (BECES-V) - assessing barriers and self-efficacy to returning to work.

Purpose: Released Veterans with mental health conditions are three times more likely than civilians to experience limitations in work reintegration. Various tools have been developed to assess barriers impacting the return-to-work (RTW) process for Veterans transitioning to civilian life. The Barriers to Employment and Coping Efficacy Scales for Veterans (BECES-V) was designed to assess perceived barriers and self-efficacy among Veterans as they reintegrate the workplace following a prolonged absence.

Methods: This study offers a preliminary validation of the BECES-V tool, specifically investigating: the dimensions of RTW obstacles while considering the literature and employing concept mapping procedure, the salient RTW obstacles experienced by Veterans with mental health conditions transitioning from military to civilian workplaces in Canada and the USA, and the strongest dimensions of RTW obstacles and self-efficacy, using logistic regression analyses. The study involved 92 Veterans who completed the BECES-V.

Results: Health-related limitations and adaptability difficulties were salient in both countries; self-efficacy to overcome work-life balance difficulties, as well as mental health and military stigmatization, emerged as the strongest predictors of RTW. Utilizing BECES-V may help identify Veterans at increased risk for prolonged RTW, allowing rehabilitation professionals to address individualized obstacles and self-efficacy for successful RTW.