Behavioral and Social Health Outcomes Program in the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Portfolio, US Army Institute of Public Health, Edgewood Arsenal of Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA.
Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2012 Oct;42(5):486-94. doi: 10.1111/j.1943-278X.2012.00106.x. Epub 2012 Aug 31.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among U.S. Army soldiers. Suicide-related ideation, which is associated with suicide attempts and suicide, can cause considerable distress. In a sample of 1,663 recently redeployed soldiers, we used factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the associations between combat exposure, unit cohesion, and their interaction in predicting suicide-related ideation. We found that combat exposure was a significant risk factor for suicide-related ideation, while unit cohesion was a significant protective factor. The significant interaction between the two factors indicated that soldiers who experienced greater combat exposure but also had higher levels of unit cohesion had relatively lower levels of suicide-related ideation. In addition, those who had higher levels of combat exposure and lower unit cohesion were most at risk for suicide-related ideation. Our findings indicate the importance of unit cohesion in protecting soldiers from suicide-related ideation and suggest a higher risk group of soldiers who should be targeted for interventions.
自杀是导致美国陆军士兵死亡的主要原因之一。与自杀企图和自杀相关的自杀意念会引起相当大的痛苦。在最近重新部署的 1663 名士兵的样本中，我们使用因子分析和结构方程模型来检验战斗暴露、单位凝聚力及其相互作用对自杀意念的预测关联。我们发现，战斗暴露是自杀意念的一个重要危险因素，而单位凝聚力是一个重要的保护因素。两个因素之间的显著相互作用表明，经历了更大战斗暴露但单位凝聚力也更高的士兵相对自杀意念较低。此外，那些经历了更高战斗暴露和更低单位凝聚力的士兵最容易出现自杀意念。我们的研究结果表明单位凝聚力在保护士兵免受自杀意念方面的重要性，并提示了一个需要进行干预的高风险士兵群体。
