Risk for suicidal ideation in the U.S. Air Force: an ecological perspective

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Military Health
• Public Health

Background:

• Military personnel often do not disclose suicidal ideation, necessitating broader prevention strategies.
• Suicide prevention efforts can be enhanced by addressing less stigmatized psychosocial factors.
• Bronfenbrenner's ecological model provides a framework for examining multi-level influences on suicidality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine individual, family, workplace, and community factors associated with suicidal ideation risk in U.S. Air Force members.
• To identify predictors of suicidal ideation across different ecological levels.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale survey (N = 52,780) of active-duty U.S. Air Force members was conducted.
• The Community Assessment survey included measures of past-year suicidality and potential risk factors.
• Multivariate models were used to analyze predictors of suicidal ideation.

Main Results:

• Approximately 4% of participants reported suicidal ideation in the past year.
• Individual (depressive symptoms, alcohol problems), family (relationship satisfaction, intimate partner victimization), workplace (hours worked), and community (social support) factors were significant predictors.
• Sex differences were observed, with men showing dissatisfaction with lifestyle and women reporting workplace relationship satisfaction and financial stressors as relevant.

Conclusions:

• Interventions should address depressive symptoms, alcohol use, relationship functioning, job satisfaction, and social support to reduce military suicide risk.
• Integrated suicide prevention programs must consider multiple ecological levels of influence.
• Findings highlight the need for comprehensive approaches to military suicide prevention.