Comparison of Suicide Attempters and Decedents in the U.S. Army: A Latent Class Analysis.
Publication Status: Published
Sponsoring Organization: Defense Health Agency (formerly TRICARE Management Activity)
Sponsoring Office: Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
Congressionally Mandated: No
Funding Source: Undetermined
Release Date/Publication: January 01, 2016
Principle Investigator Status: Government
Primary DoD Data Source: Other Clinical
Secondary DoD Data Source:
Abstract
A clearer understanding of risk factors for suicidal behavior among soldiers is of principal importance to military suicide prevention. It is unclear whether soldiers who attempt suicide and those who die by suicide have different patterns of risk factors. As such, preventive efforts aimed toward reducing suicide attempts and suicides, respectively, may require different strategies. We conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) to examine classes of risk factors among suicide attempters (n = 1,433) and decedents (n = 424). Both groups were represented by three classes: (1) External/Antisocial Risk Factors, (2) Mental Health Risk Factors, and (3) No Pattern. These findings support the conceptualization that military suicide attempters and decedents represent a single population.
Citation:
Skopp NA, Smolenski DJ, Sheppard SC, Bush NE, Luxton DD. Comparison of Suicide Attempters and Decedents in the U.S. Army: A Latent Class Analysis. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2016 Jan 8.