Soldiers’ Ability to Handle Stress, Adapt to Change May Help Predict Suicide Risk

Another study used Army STARRS data to learn more about conditions leading up to suicide. In a poster at the annual Amygdala Conference in April at the Uniformed Services University for the Health Sciences, psychologist Catherine Dempsey, Ph.D., M.P.H., and colleagues interviewed either the next of kin or first-line supervisors about the prior history of 168 soldiers who died by suicide. They compared that information with 389 control subjects, matched for childhood, adult, and combat experiences.

The researchers looked at reports of recent stressful events, the severity of stress, and how well soldiers managed their own stress to see whether an association existed with greater risk of suicide.

“We did ask questions about combat experiences, [but] we are still in the process of analyzing those data,” said Dempsey in an interview. Dempsey is a contractor with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine in support of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress.

“[Both] next of kin and supervisors similarly reported soldiers who died by suicide were more likely to have experienced recent stressful events when compared with controls,” they concluded. Such events included being left by a spouse or partner in the prior month, ongoing arguments or break-up with family members or a close friend, and a perceived failure or humiliation.

Both sets of informants also noted recent severe stresses in the decedent’s career or job, social life, or relationship with family or being in legal difficulty. They also said that the soldiers did a poor job managing stress or adapting to changing situations and in recovering from setbacks.

“Results suggest that the ability to handle stress and adapt to changing situations may be a useful predictor of suicide,” wrote the researchers. “This information may inform prevention efforts.” ■