1 VA Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua, NY, USA.
2 University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Health Educ Behav. 2018 Dec;45(6):1016-1024. doi: 10.1177/1090198118769344. Epub 2018 Apr 16.
Communication campaigns offer a viable mechanism to promote suicide prevention and reinforce mental health for U.S. veterans in midlife, a group with a high suicide burden. However, little empirical investigation of this type of messaging has been conducted, with formative campaign research conspicuously missing from the limited literature.
Using the theory of planned behavior as a guide, formative research was conducted to inform the design of suicide prevention messaging by (a) describing and measuring several theoretical constructs among our audience and (b) modeling associations between constructs and intentions to seek help for suicidal behaviors and mental health more broadly.
Telephone-based cross-sectional surveys were collected between 2014 and 2016 from a nationally representative sample of veterans with analyses restricted to those aged between 44 and 65 years ( n = 809). Multiple logistic regression was used to identify significant factors associated with intentions to seek help for either suicidal behaviors or mental health.
Perceived behavioral control was one of the largest predictors of intentions to seek help for both suicidal behaviors and mental health concerns. Descriptive norms were also significantly associated with suicide-related intentions. Data further suggest several types of attitudes (i.e., discordant beliefs, stereotypes) to consider when designing messages for this group.
This study represents one of the first efforts to document and describe theoretical constructs and their influence on intentions among veterans in midlife to contribute to the development of evidence-based messaging for veterans informed by a conceptual framework.
Findings have important implications as the use of communication strategies for suicide prevention grows increasingly popular.
对于美国中年退伍军人这一自杀负担较重的群体来说，传播活动提供了一种可行的机制，可用于推广自杀预防措施并加强其心理健康。然而，人们对此类信息传递方式的实证研究甚少，而有限的文献中明显缺乏形成性传播活动研究。
以计划行为理论为指导，开展形成性研究，为自杀预防信息传递的设计提供信息，具体方法为：(a)描述并衡量我们的目标受众中的几个理论构念；(b)对构念与寻求自杀行为和更广泛的心理健康帮助的意图之间的关联进行建模。
2014 年至 2016 年间，通过电话进行了横断面调查，调查对象为具有全国代表性的退伍军人样本，分析仅限于年龄在 44 岁至 65 岁之间的退伍军人（n=809）。采用多变量逻辑回归分析确定与寻求自杀行为或心理健康帮助的意图相关的显著因素。
感知行为控制是意图寻求自杀行为和心理健康帮助的最大预测因素之一。描述性规范也与与自杀相关的意图显著相关。数据进一步表明，在为这一群体设计信息时，需要考虑几种类型的态度（即，不一致的信念、刻板印象）。
本研究是记录和描述中年退伍军人的理论构念及其对意图的影响的首批努力之一，旨在为退伍军人提供循证信息传递的发展做出贡献，该信息传递方式受到概念框架的启发。
随着传播策略在自杀预防中的应用日益普及，本研究的结果具有重要意义。
