Economic
Homelessness and unemployment are prevalent concerns among veteran samples. One study found high rates of psychopathology among a sample of 789 homeless OEF/OIF male veterans, as approximately 31.6 percent were diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder, 25.2 percent with an illicit drug use disorder, 70.1 percent with PTSD, and 55.3 percent with a mood disorder (Tsai et al., 2013). Research involving veterans who served prior to OEF/OIF offers further support for the association between dual diagnosis and negative socioeconomic indicators. Specifically, Sloan and Rowe (1995) reported that dually diagnosed veterans were significantly more likely to be unemployed and to live alone or in unstable housing than non-dually diagnosed veterans receiving psychiatric services. O’Connor et al. (2013) explored variability in unemployment among veterans to determine that rates significantly increased among homeless veterans with a dual diagnosis between 2006 and 2007 while comparable increases were not observed among the general veteran population. Findings suggest that dually diagnosed veterans may be disproportionately vulnerable to downward socioeconomic mobility.