Leah Shelef1, Anat Brunstein Klomek2, Nirit Yavnai3, Golan Shahar4. 1. 1 Israeli Air Force, Mental Health Unit, Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force, Ramat Gan, Israel. 2. 2 School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC), Israel. 3. 3 Medical Corps, Israel Defense Force, Ramat Gan, Israel. 4. 4 Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Intent to die is an important component of suicide risk assessment. The authors compared the predictive effect of two forms of stress - military and perceived - in intent to die by suicide among young adult Israeli soldiers with a history of suicide attempts. Depression, suicide ideation, and habituation/acquired capacity for suicidality served as covariates. METHODS: Participants were 60 young adult soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force (ISF; aged 18-21 years), who made a suicide attempt during their military service. Study variables were assessed using self-report measures. RESULTS: Intent to die by suicide correlated with suicide ideation, habituation/acquired capacity, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. In a multiple regression analysis, perceived stress predicted intent to die (b = .44, p = .002) over and above the prediction by suicide ideation (b = .42, p = .013) and acquired capacity/habituation (b = .28, p = .023). LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design restricts causal inference. In addition, an exclusive reliance on self-report measures might have inflated shared method variance. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived stress captures a unique dimension of intent to die by suicide among young suicide attempters.
BACKGROUND: Intent to die is an important component of suicide risk assessment. The authors compared the predictive effect of two forms of stress - military and perceived - in intent to die by suicide among young adult Israeli soldiers with a history of suicide attempts. Depression, suicide ideation, and habituation/acquired capacity for suicidality served as covariates. METHODS:Participants were 60 young adult soldiers in the Israeli Defense Force (ISF; aged 18-21 years), who made a suicide attempt during their military service. Study variables were assessed using self-report measures. RESULTS: Intent to die by suicide correlated with suicide ideation, habituation/acquired capacity, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. In a multiple regression analysis, perceived stress predicted intent to die (b = .44, p = .002) over and above the prediction by suicide ideation (b = .42, p = .013) and acquired capacity/habituation (b = .28, p = .023). LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional design restricts causal inference. In addition, an exclusive reliance on self-report measures might have inflated shared method variance. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived stress captures a unique dimension of intent to die by suicide among young suicide attempters.
Entities:
Keywords:
acquired capacity; army stress; intent to die; military soldiers; perceived stress; suicide ideation