Citation

Carroll TD, Mccormick WH, Smith PN, Isaak SL, Currier JM. Psycholog. Relig. Spiritual. 2020; 12(3): 304-310.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/rel0000270

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Suicide is a leading cause of death among Service Members and Veterans (SM/Vs) who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent research has found significant associations between the interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS) and PTSD symptomatology. Furthermore, findings suggest positive and negative forms of religious coping can varyingly contribute to risk for both PTSD and suicidal behavior. However, models of suicidal ideation to action (e.g., ITS), to our knowledge, have not accounted for the role of religious coping. As such, this study examined the possible influence of both positive and negative religious coping on pathways between PTSD and suicidal desire (i.e., thwarted belongingness [TB] and perceived burdensomeness [PB]) in a community sample of 201 SM/Vs. Analyses revealed positive religious coping may be a significant protective factor for TB, but not PB, even in presence of high PTSD symptomatology. Additionally, negative religious coping appeared to exacerbate the impact of PTSD symptomatology on PB. These findings highlight the potential benefit in assessing for religiousness and/or spirituality (R/S) factors when conceptualizing risk for suicide. © 2020 American Psychological Association.

Language: en

Keywords

Perceived burdensomeness; Veterans; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Thwarted belongingness; Negative religious coping; Positive religious coping