School of Social Work, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Brigade Tactical Department, United States Military Academy West Point, 606 Thayer Rd West Point, NY 10966, USA.
Mil Med. 2024 Aug 19;189(Suppl 3):165-170. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usae066.
Suicidal ideation and attempts are considered to be graduated risks for suicide, yet they remain under studied. Suicide is among the leading causes of death in the U.S. for all individuals between the ages of 10 and 64 years. Suicide is a critical problem in the U.S. Military. The U.S. Army suicide rates surpassed civilian rates in 2008 and continue to climb steadily; with U.S. Army soldiers at more than twice the risk than U.S. civilians, and enlisted personnel at more than twice the risk of officers. Suicidal ideation and attempts are routinely reported within U.S. Army brigades using suicide-related serious incident reports (SR-SIRs). These reports could form a useful source of information for prevention planning, but to date there have been no efforts to summary these reports. This paper analyzes SR-SIRs among enlisted personnel for a 4-year period for 1 Army brigade, to test the usefulness of this information and to explore whether risk factors for attempts compared to ideation can be identified.
This report analyzes 130 de-identified reports of suicidal ideation (n = 102) and suicide attempts (n = 28) reported as SR-SIRs from August 2018 to June 2022 among enlisted personnel in an airborne infantry brigade combat team (BCT) outside the continental U.S. Analysis of de-identified data was not considered research by brigade and university human subject/IRB authorities. Fourteen soldier characteristics and context factors were examined to determine if they differentiate the two types of incidents, suicidal ideations and suicide attempts.
Unit location and alcohol use at the time of the incident were strongly associated with suicide attempts compared to ideation. Attempts occurred disproportionately during off duty hours, and attempters were more likely to have had prior contact with behavioral health services than ideators; however, these differences did not attain conventional statistical significance.
The study can help inform unit-specific suicide prevention and intervention strategies. Off duty hours and alcohol use are risk factors for attempts, particularly among soldiers who have sought behavioral health care. Plans to engage and support soldiers who have sought behavioral health care during off duty hours, and information regarding the risks of alcohol use, could meaningfully reduce their risk. This is the first known attempt to examine active duty U.S. Army brigade combat team SR-SIRs, and they are a potentially valuable source of health and mental health-related information.
自杀意念和自杀企图被认为是自杀的渐进性风险，但它们仍未得到充分研究。自杀是美国 10 至 64 岁人群的主要死亡原因之一。自杀是美国军队的一个重大问题。2008 年，美国陆军的自杀率超过了平民，此后一直稳步攀升；美国陆军士兵的自杀风险是平民的两倍多， enlisted 人员的自杀风险是军官的两倍多。自杀意念和自杀企图在美国陆军旅中经常通过自杀相关严重事件报告（SR-SIR）报告。这些报告可能成为预防计划的有用信息来源，但迄今为止，还没有人努力总结这些报告。本文分析了 1 个陆军旅 4 年来 enlisted 人员的 SR-SIR，以测试这些信息的有用性，并探讨是否可以确定企图与意念的风险因素。
本报告分析了 2018 年 8 月至 2022 年 6 月期间，美国境外一个空降步兵旅战斗队（BCT）中 enlisted 人员报告的 130 份匿名自杀意念（n=102）和自杀企图（n=28）的 SR-SIR。分析匿名数据不被认为是该旅和大学人类主体/IRB 当局的研究。检查了 14 名士兵特征和环境因素，以确定它们是否区分自杀意念和自杀企图这两种事件。
与自杀意念相比，单位位置和事件发生时的饮酒与自杀企图有很强的关联。非工作时间发生的企图比例不成比例，企图者比意念者更有可能之前曾与行为健康服务部门接触；然而，这些差异没有达到常规的统计学意义。
该研究有助于为特定单位的自杀预防和干预策略提供信息。非工作时间和饮酒是企图的风险因素，特别是对于那些已经寻求行为健康护理的士兵。在非工作时间与已经寻求行为健康护理的士兵接触并支持他们的计划，以及提供关于饮酒风险的信息，可以显著降低他们的风险。这是首次尝试检查现役美国陆军旅战斗队的 SR-SIR，它们是健康和心理健康相关信息的潜在有价值来源。
