Fortune Favors the Bold: Introduction to the Special Series of the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center for Quality Employment

This editorial provides an overview of the special series developed by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (VRTAC) for Quality Employment, H264K200003, and VRTAC-Targeted Communities (H264F15003) from the U.S. Department of Education, and in collaboration with the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research project of Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Employer Practices (#90RT5041), RRTC on Employment of Transition-Age Youth with Disabilities (#90RTEM0002), RRTC on Employment of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (#90RTEM0003), and Disability Rehabilitation and Research Project on Customized Employment (#90DP0085). The special series consists of 26 articles appearing across four different journals: Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Journal; Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education; and Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin.

Service-Connected Disability and Happiness in Student Veterans: A Parallel Mediation Study of PERMA

The student veteran population has been growing in higher education, along with the attention to their happiness and well-being. Seligman developed the positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA) model to help understand an individual’s happiness, including five pillars: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning, and Accomplishment. In this study, we aim at evaluating the role of the PERMA model’s five pillars in explaining the relationship between service-connected disability and happiness. Data were collected from 205 student veterans. The result demonstrated that positive emotion and accomplishment mediated the relationship between service-connected disability and happiness. The findings of this study suggest utilizing positive psychology to help student veterans improve happiness, as well as engage in more activities that could potentially increase an individual’s positive emotion and accomplishment, and eventually increase the level of happiness.

Evaluating Optimism, Hope, Resilience, Coping Flexibility, Secure Attachment, and PERMA as a Well-Being Model for College Life Adjustment of Student Veterans: A Hierarchical Regression Analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine (a) to what extent demographic covariates, foundational and emerging positive psychology traits (FEPPTs), and PERMA uniquely predict college life adjustment, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and life satisfaction of student military veterans; (b) PERMA as a happiness and well-being model for college life adjustment, HRQOL, and life satisfaction among student veterans; and (c) FEPPTs as predictors of PERMA. In addition, we tested whether total PERMA scores mediate the relationship between service-connected disability and college adjustment. A total of 205 student veterans responded to an online survey. Results revealed that demographic covariates (e.g., service-connected disability), FEPPTs (e.g., optimism), and PERMA (e.g., positive emotion) significantly accounted for college life adjustment, HRQOL, and life satisfaction of student veterans. In addition, a mediation analysis revealed that PERMA partially mediated the relationship between service-connected disability and college life adjustment of student veterans. The results of this study provide empirical supports for the use of PERMA as a comprehensive well-being model of college life adjustment for student veterans.