Firearms, alcohol, suicide, and intimate partner violence perpetration among service members: Military partner...

U.S. Armed Forces members experience specific demands and stressors that lead to several risk factors of self-harm or harm against others. Military spouses face unique challenges as partners of service members and are often placed in a position to intervene in potentially harmful situations. This study aimed to use qualitative methods to explore military spouses' exposure to their active-duty partner's risk of violence perpetration, firearm suicide, and associated circumstances such as alcohol use and access to personally owned firearms. Participants were adult spouses/partners of active-duty service members, Reserve or Guard members, or recent Veterans (referred to as "military spouses"). Participants completed a 30- to 60-min in-depth interview. An inductive-deductive approach and pattern coding were used to identify trends and key themes. A total of 34 military spouses participated in interviews. Most participants were female (97.06%), White (76.47%), and non-Hispanic (88.24%). Nearly two thirds (61.76%) of participants reported that they and/or their spouse had access to at least one personally owned firearm within their home. Military spouses shared experiences with real-time crisis management related to harmful or hazardous alcohol use and threats of intimate partner violence and firearm suicide. Participants also noted several perceived barriers to prevention and intervention resources and strategies. Due to military spouses' significant exposure to their partner's suicidal behaviors and threat of violence perpetration, as well as the increased access to lethal means (i.e., firearms) and potential for harmful or hazardous alcohol use, existing prevention and intervention strategies may be insufficient. There are multiple intervention opportunities for health care providers to fill this gap. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).