160 7 CHAPTER 7 The association between disclosure and sustainable employment has rarely been investigated, especially in the military. Previous research among civilians has included direct consequences of disclosure such as discrimination, receiving work accommodations, and supervisor support (12), but not measures of sustainable employment and wellbeing at work. The current thesis focused on the disclosure of MHI to a supervisor during employment, whereas research that has included measures of disclosure and sustainable employment and well-being at work has mainly focused on disclosure during the hiring process (19, 21-23) or through supported employment programs (24-26). As the findings of the current thesis showed that disclosure experiences were related to sustainable employment and well-being at work, and this association has rarely been investigated, more research is needed into the disclosure decision and experiences during employment and sustainable employment and well-being at work. The preference for self-management A recurring finding of this thesis is the high preference military personnel have to solve their own problems, instead of seeking treatment or disclosing their MHI to a supervisor. Of military personnel with MHI, 73.8% indicated that they preferred to solve their own problems, and of military personnel without MHI, 65.2% had this preference (chapter 5). This preference was also visible in the reported (non-)disclosure experiences (chapter 6). Of those who reported a positive experience from not disclosing, 89.4% indicated that a reason for this was that they preferred to solve their own problems. Additionally, of those who reported a negative experience from disclosing, 84.4% indicated that they would have preferred to solve their own problems. Previous research on treatment-seeking within the military also showed that military personnel have a high preference to solve their own problems, and that this forms a barrier to treatment-seeking (27-31). Research on the preference for self-management and disclosure of MHI to a supervisor is scarce. A recent interdisciplinary review of the literature on MHI disclosure among civilian workers (32) did find self-management capabilities to be an important antecedent to (non-)disclosure, but this review did not include the preference for self-management. Self-management capabilities refer to the ability to overcome symptoms on one’s own. For some people with MHI, it is possible to match their skills and personality with their work situation, which reduces the need for disclosure (33). However, this is different from the preference for self-management. The preference for self-management has been found in previous research on disclosure among Dutch workers, however, this preference seems to be lower for civilian samples. For example, a study among Dutch workers with MHI found that 45% of those who had not disclosed, preferred to solve their own problems (12), compared to 87.3% of military personnel who had not disclosed in the current thesis. This high preference for self-management is likely inherent to the military culture where there is a strong stance
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