@article{ref1,
title="Risk factors for suicide attempts among U.S. military veterans: a 7-year population-based, longitudinal cohort study",
journal="Suicide and life-threatening behavior",
year="2021",
author="Nichter, Brandon and Stein, Murray B. and Monteith, Lindsey L. and Herzog, Sarah and Holliday, Ryan and Hill, Melanie L. and Norman, Sonya B. and Krystal, John H. and Pietrzak, Robert H.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Population-based data on risk factors for suicide attempts among veterans remains limited. <br><br>METHODS: A national probability sample of 2307 veterans was followed over the course of four timepoints spanning seven years to examine how a range of baseline risk factors predict incident suicide attempt. Suicide attempt data were aggregated into a single follow-up timepoint. <br><br>RESULTS: Sixty-two veterans (3.1%) reported attempting suicide during the 7-year period. The strongest risk factors for suicide attempts were higher baseline levels of loneliness, lower baseline levels of adaptive psychosocial traits (e.g., dispositional gratitude), baseline thoughts of self-harm, and greater post-baseline trauma exposures (12.3%-41.3% of explained variance). Veterans with multiple co-occurring risk factors were at greatest risk for attempts; of veterans with 0, 1, 2, 3, and all 4 of these factors, the predicted probability of suicide attempt was 2.0%, 5.3%, 13.5%, 30.4%, and 55.0%, respectively. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Baseline loneliness, dispositional gratitude, thoughts of self-harm, and new-onset traumas emerged as the strongest risk factors for suicide attempts among veterans, underscoring the potential importance of targeting these factors in prevention efforts. Veterans with multiple co-occurring risk factors have substantially greater risk for suicide attempts, suggesting that examination of multiple coinciding vulnerability factors may help improve suicide risk prediction models.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0363-0234",
doi="10.1111/sltb.12822",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12822"
}