Risk Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation and Suicidal Behavior in Wildland Firefighters

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Mental Health Research
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Wildland firefighters may experience higher suicide rates compared to the general population and other firefighter groups.
• Understanding the specific rates and risk factors for suicide within the wildland firefighter community is crucial but not fully established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and behaviors among wildland firefighters.
• To identify risk factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in this occupational group.
• To examine the role of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and problematic alcohol use in wildland firefighter suicide.

Main Methods:

• A preregistered online study recruited 564 participants from Facebook, yielding a final sample of 246 wildland firefighters (current or former).
• Participants completed validated online assessments measuring suicidal ideation, history of suicidal behaviors, PTSD symptoms, problematic alcohol use, and occupational exposure to suicide.

Main Results:

• 22% of wildland firefighters reported a history of at least one suicide attempt.
• 36.7% reported current suicidal ideation.
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were significantly associated with suicidal ideation and a history of suicide attempts, explaining more variance than depression symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Wildland firefighters exhibit higher rates of suicide attempts than both non-wildland firefighters and the general population.
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms appear to be a significant contributing factor to suicidal thoughts and behaviors in wildland firefighters.
• This study represents the largest investigation to date into suicidal thoughts and behaviors among wildland firefighters.