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Sexual Trauma and Combat During Deployment: Associations With Suicidal Ideation Among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans
Author(s) -
Monteith Lindsey L.,
Menefee Deleene S.,
Forster Jeri E.,
Wanner Jill L.,
Bahraini Nazanin H.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.22018
Subject(s) - suicidal ideation , psychiatry , clinical psychology , psychology , military personnel , poison control , software deployment , sex offense , military deployment , suicide prevention , beck depression inventory , medicine , sexual abuse , medical emergency , anxiety , political science , computer science , law , operating system
Compelling evidence has emerged on the association between military sexual trauma and suicide attempt; however, research investigating how sexual trauma during deployment relates to suicidal ideation has received considerably less attention and has yielded mixed findings. Furthermore, such research has not accounted for other types of trauma that may occur during deployment. Our objectives were to examine whether sexual trauma during deployment was associated with recent suicidal ideation, adjusting for exposure to combat. Our sample included 199 Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) veterans entering inpatient trauma‐focused treatment who completed the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (Beck & Steer, 1991) and the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory Sexual Harassment and Combat Experiences Scales (King, King, Vogt, Knight, & Samper, 2006). Deployment‐related sexual trauma was significantly associated with recent suicidal ideation, adjusting for age and gender (β = .18, η p 2 = .03) and additionally for combat (β = .17, η p 2 = .02). These findings underscore the importance of assessing for deployment‐related sexual trauma when assessing suicide risk in OEF/OIF/OND veterans in inpatient settings.