Citation

Kimbrel NA, Newins AR, Dedert EA, Van Voorhees EE, Elbogen EB, Naylor JC, Ryan Wagner H, Brancu M, Beckham JC, Calhoun PS. J. Psychiatr. Res. 2017; 89: 1-5.

Affiliation

Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, NC, USA; Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA; VA Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham, NC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.01.002

PMID

28129565

Abstract

The objective of the present research was to examine the association between lifetime cannabis use disorder (CUD), current suicidal ideation, and lifetime history of suicide attempts in a large and diverse sample of Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans (N = 3233) using a battery of well-validated instruments. As expected, CUD was associated with both current suicidal ideation (OR = 1.683, p = 0.008) and lifetime suicide attempts (OR = 2.306, p < 0.0001), even after accounting for the effects of sex, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol use disorder, non-cannabis drug use disorder, history of childhood sexual abuse, and combat exposure. Thus, the findings from the present study suggest that CUD may be a unique predictor of suicide attempts among Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans; however, a significant limitation of the present study was its cross-sectional design. Prospective research aimed at understanding the complex relationship between CUD, mental health problems, and suicidal behavior among veterans is clearly needed at the present time.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

Cannabis; Depression; Marijuana; Posttraumatic stress; Substance abuse; Suicidal ideation; Suicide; Suicide attempts