Citation

Skopp NA, Holland KM, Logan JE, Alexander CL, Floyd CF. Psychol. Serv. 2019; 16(2): 302-311.

Affiliation

Defense Centers of Excellence National Center for Telehealth and Technology.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Educational Publishing Foundation)

DOI

10.1037/ser0000221

PMID

30372092

Abstract

To gain a better understanding of military suicide, we examined suicide narratives for 135 Soldiers extracted from two large-scale surveillance systems: the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report (DoDSER) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Using coroner/medical examiner and law enforcement narratives captured in the NVDRS and mental health provider narrative data collected across multiple domains from the DoDSER, we examined circumstances surrounding military suicides using a qualitative content analysis approach. We identified five common proximal circumstances: (1) intimate partner relationship problems (63.0%); (2) mental health/substance abuse (51.9%); (3) military job-related (46.7%); (4) financial (17.8%); and (5) criminal/legal activity (16.3%). Evidence of premeditation was present in 37.0% of suicides. Decedents frequently struggled with multiple, high-stress problems and exhibited symptoms of coping and emotion regulation difficulties.

FINDINGS demonstrate potential points of intervention for suicide prevention strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en