Suicide in the U.S. army: stressor-strain hypothesis among deployed and nondeployed Army National Guard soldiers
| Pages | 187-198 |
| Published date | 13 July 2015 |
| Date | 13 July 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-05-2014-0125 |
| Author | James Griffith |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression, conflict & peace |
Suicide in the U.S. army: stressor-strain
hypothesis among deployed and
nondeployed Army National
Guard soldiers
James Griffith
Dr James Griffith is Research
Psychologist at National Center
for Veterans Studies, University
of Utah, Salt Lake City,
Utah, USA.
Abstract
Purpose –Study samples, having responded to similar survey content, allowed examination of suicide risk
factors for deployed soldiers relative to nondeployed or home station soldiers. Specific research questions
addressed by this study are: First, what is the prevalence of suicidal behaviors among Army National Guard
(ARNG) soldiers –deployed or not, and how do these rates compare with known US national and
international rates? Second, what are stressful life events associated with suicidal risk? How do these
compare between deployed and nondeployed soldiers? Third, what specifically about combat exposure
makes soldiers at risk for suicide? And fourth, is there any evidence of stress-buffering effect between risk
factors and suicidal behaviors? The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach –Three data sources were used. First, the responding sample for the Unit
Risk Inventory consisted of 180 company-sized units with a total of 12,567 responding soldiers. Second, the
responding sample for the Unit Risk Inventory-Reintegration consisted of 50 company-sized units with a total
of 4,567 soldiers. The third data source was all ARNG suicides for calendar years 2007 through 2012. For
each calendar year, a random sample of 1,000 ARNG soldiers was drawn to represent nonsuicides. This
resulted in a study sample size of 6,523, including the 523 suicides for the years 2007 through 2012 plus
1,000 nonsuicide cases for each calendar year.
Findings –Prevalence of suicidal behaviors among soldiers was higher (for thoughts, plans, and attempts,
respectively, 4-6, 1.3-2.2, and 0.7-0.08 percent) than among civilian populations (respectively, 2.6, 0.7, and
0.4 percent). Risk was highest among home station than deployed soldiers. Stressful life events associated
with suicide risk included personal feelings of loneliness, anger, and frustration, followed by interpersonal
behavioral problems, such as aggressive behavior toward a significant other and having committed a crime.
Also evident are the beneficial effects (as a main effect and buffering effect) of feelings of cohesiveness, quality
leaderships, and job satisfaction on suicidal behaviors.
Research limitations/implications –Findings here were consistent with the stressor-strain hypothesis.
Stressful life events were associated with suicide risk, especially, personal feelings of loneliness, anger, and
frustration, followed by interpersonal behavioral problems, such as aggressive behavior toward a significant
other and having committed a crime. Evident, too, were the beneficial effects of feelings of cohesiveness,
quality leaderships, and job satisfaction on suicidal behaviors. Soldiers reporting these events were less likely
to report suicidal behaviors and social support lessened the cumulative effect of risk factors on suicidal
behaviors. Given these findings, it seems that suicide risk in the military is not uniquely different from that
observed in civilian populations. The higher prevalence of suicides in the military likely has to do with
proportionally more individuals who have historically shown to be at risk for suicide, namely, young males.
Practical implications –Strong association of individual-level attributes with suicidal behaviors, such as
age, gender, and race, suggest individual-level vulnerability to suicidal behaviors. This expectation is
consistent with the stress/suicide vulnerability theory (Bryan, 2014; Nock et al., 2013). Such vulnerabilities
may include negative affectivity (one of the Big Five personality dimensions) and early childhood trauma to
suicidal behaviors (Griffith, 2012a, 2014).
Received 26 May 2014
Revised 24 July 2014
Accepted 7 August 2014
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-05-2014-0125 VOL. 7 NO. 3 2015, pp.187- 198,© Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599
j
JOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICTAND PEACERESEARCH
j
PAG E 18 7
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