Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 13;5(1):24-36.
doi: 10.1176/appi.prcp.20220027. eCollection 2023 Spring.

Recent Stressful Experiences and Suicide Risk: Implications for Suicide Prevention and Intervention in U.S. Army Soldiers

Catherine L Dempsey  1   2 , David M Benedek  1 , Kelly L Zuromski  3 , Matthew K Nock  3 , David A Brent  4 , Jingning Ao  1   2 , Matthew W Georg  1   2 , Katy Haller  1   2 , Pablo A Aliaga  1   2 , Steven G Heeringa  5 , Ronald C Kessler  6 , Murray B Stein  7   8 , Robert J Ursano  1
Affiliations

Recent Stressful Experiences and Suicide Risk: Implications for Suicide Prevention and Intervention in U.S. Army Soldiers

Catherine L Dempsey et al. Psychiatr Res Clin Pract. .

Abstract

Objectives: To identify the extent to which the presence of recent stressful events are risk factors for suicide among active-duty soldiers as reported by informants.

Methods: Next-of-kin (NOK) and supervisors (SUP) of active duty soldiers (n = 135) who died by suicide and two groups of living controls: propensity-matched (n = 128) and soldiers who reported suicidal ideation in the past year, but did not die (SI) (n = 108) provided data via structured interviews from the Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to create a risk score for suicide.

Results: The odds of suicide increased significantly for soldiers experiencing relationship problems, military punishment, and perceived failure or humiliation in the month prior to death. Suicide risk models with these risk factors predicted suicide death among those who reported SI in the past year (OR = 5.9, [95% CI = 1.5, 24.0] χ 2 = 6.24, p = 0.0125, AUC, 0.73 (0.7, 0.8) NOK) and (OR = 8.6, [95% CI = 1.4, 51.5] χ 2 = 5.49, p = 0.0191, AUC, 0.78 (0.7, 0.8); SUP) suggesting the combination of these recent stressors may contribute to the transition from ideation to action.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest for the first time recent stressors distinguished suicide ideating controls from suicide decedents in the month prior to death as reported by informants. Implications for preventive intervention efforts for clinicians, supervisors and family members in identifying the transition from ideation to action are discussed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A. Stressful life events and suicide risk next‐of‐kin. B. Stressful life events and suicide risk supervisor
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization . Suicide fact sheet 2021. Available from: https://www.who.int/news‐room/fact‐sheets/detail/suicide
    1. Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office . The DOD annual suicide report calendar year 2020. Sept 03, 2021. Contract No.: F‐71A76FD.
    1. Ramchand R, Acosta J, Burns RM, Jaycox LH, Pernin CG. The war within: preventing suicide in the U.S. military. Rand Health Q. 2011;1(1):2. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Armed Forces Surveillance Center . Deaths by suicide while on active duty, active and reserve components. U.S. Armed Forces, 1998‐2011; 2012. - PubMed
    1. Chu C, Stanley IH, Marx BP, King AJ, Vogt D, Gildea SM, et al. Associations of vulnerability to stressful life events with suicide attempts after active duty among high‐risk soldiers: results from the Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers‐longitudinal study (STARRS‐LS). Psychol Med. 2022:1–11. 10.1017/s0033291722000915 - DOI - PMC - PubMed