The Role of Personal Values in the Context of the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Satisfaction with Life in the Group of Uniformed Personnel Treated in a Mental Health Clinic

Background/Objectives: Personal values shape appraisal of stress and life satisfaction. We examined the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction among uniformed personnel in outpatient mental health care, and the role of a personal values hierarchy in this context. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 183 uniformed personnel (34 females, 149 males, age 30–66 years, M = 44.72, SD = 5.84) diagnosed with bodily distress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder at a mental health clinic. Participants completed standardized questionnaires assessing perceived stress, satisfaction with life, coping styles, and personal values. For the Personal Value List, each value not selected by a participant was coded as 0 to avoid missing data; scores regarding symbols of happiness were not used. Reliability was evaluated via repeated measurement; two parts of a key instrument showed test–retest correlations of approximately 0.78 and 0.76. For assessing statistical significance, the bootstrap method was used (1000 resamples). Analyses were conducted in jamovi 2.3.28 using snowLatent (latent profile analysis) and medmod 1.1.0 (moderation analysis). Results: Perceived stress was negatively associated with satisfaction with life (B = −0.36, 95% CI [−0.48; −0.24], p < 0.001). Latent profile analysis extracted two personal values hierarchy profiles (AIC = 4237; BIC = 4587). Profile membership was not a significant predictor of satisfaction with life (p = 0.595) and did not moderate the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life (p = 0.907). Distraction seeking was significantly higher in profile 1 (p = 0.010). Conclusions: In treated uniformed personnel, higher perceived stress is linked to lower life satisfaction. The personal values hierarchy did not moderate this relationship and was not associated with satisfaction with life; however, the personal values hierarchy was related to coping, specifically distraction seeking.