Person:

Petukhova, Maria

The US Army suicide rate has increased sharply in recent years. Identifying significant predictors of Army suicides in Army and Department of Defense (DoD) administrative records might help focus prevention efforts and guide intervention content. Previous studies of administrative data, although documenting significant predictors, were based on limited samples and models. A career history perspective is used here to develop more textured models. The analysis was carried out as part of the Historical Administrative Data Study (HADS) of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). De-identified data were combined across numerous Army and DoD administrative data systems for all Regular Army soldiers on active duty in 2004–2009. Multivariate associations of sociodemographics and Army career variables with suicide were examined in subgroups defined by time in service, rank and deployment history. Several novel results were found that could have intervention implications. The most notable of these were significantly elevated suicide rates (69.6–80.0 suicides per 100 000 person-years compared with 18.5 suicides per 100 000 person-years in the total Army) among enlisted soldiers deployed either during their first year of service or with less than expected (based on time in service) junior enlisted rank; a substantially greater rise in suicide among women than men during deployment; and a protective effect of marriage against suicide only during deployment. A career history approach produces several actionable insights missed in less textured analyses of administrative data predictors. Expansion of analyses to a richer set of predictors might help refine understanding of intervention implications.

Background

The prevalence of 30-day mental disorders with retrospectively-reported early onsets is significantly higher in the U.S. Army than among socio-demographically matched civilians. This difference could reflect high prevalence of pre-enlistment disorders and/or high persistence of these disorders in the context of the stresses associated with military service. These alternatives can to some extent be distinguished by estimating lifetime disorder prevalence among new Army recruits.

Methods

The New Soldier Study (NSS) in the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) used fully-structured measures to estimate lifetime prevalence of 10 DSM-IV disorders in new soldiers reporting for Basic Combat Training in 2011-2012 (n=38,507). Prevalence was compared to estimates from a matched civilian sample. Multivariate regression models examined socio-demographic correlates of disorder prevalence and persistence among new soldiers.

Results

Lifetime prevalence of having at least one internalizing, externalizing, or either type of disorder did not differ significantly between new soldiers and civilians, although three specific disorders (generalized anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and conduct disorders) and multi-morbidity were significantly more common among new soldiers than civilians. Although several socio-demographic characteristics were significantly associated with disorder prevalence and persistence, these associations were uniformly weak.

Conclusions

New soldiers differ somewhat, but not consistently, from civilians in lifetime pre-enlistment mental disorders. This suggests that prior findings of higher prevalence of current disorders with pre-enlistment onsets among soldiers than civilians are likely due primarily to a more persistent course of early-onset disorders in the context of the special stresses experienced by Army personnel.