Social closeness and support are associated with lower risk of suicide among U.S. Army soldiers.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We tested the aspects of social support, unit cohesion, and religiosity hypothesized to be protective factors for suicide among U.S. service members.

Methods

This case-control study compared U.S. Army soldiers who died by suicide while on active duty (n = 135) to controls of two types: those propensity score-matched on known sociodemographic risk factors (n = 128); and those controls who had thought about, but not died by, suicide in the past year (n = 108). Data included structured interviews of next of kin (NOK) and Army supervisors (SUP) for each case and control soldier. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine predictors of suicide.

Results

Perceived social closeness and seeking help from others were associated with decreased odds of suicide, a

SUBMITTER: Dempsey CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10615249 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature