Factors Related to Suicidal Ideation in Iranian Soldiers

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Counseling Department, Humanities & Social Science Faculty, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran

2 Health Research Center, Lifestyle Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Chemical Injuries Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Aim: Suicidal thoughts are one of the main risk factors for suicide attempts, so understanding the factors associated with suicidal ideation in soldiers can be important in preventing and treating suicide in military environments. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the demographic factors of soldiers and their experience of suicidal ideation.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 150 soldiers were selected from military barracks in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province and answered the Beck Suicide Thought Questionnaire and the Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire. ANOVA and t-tests were used to analyze the data.
Results: The findings of the present study showed that among the demographic factors of age, educational status, indigenous or non-indigenous, marital status, and length of service only native or non-native soldiers have a significant relationship with the experience of suicidal ideation (T = -2.033, P<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that the non-native soldiers reported significantly more suicidal ideation than the native ones and this issue should be addressed by the officials and psychologists of military centers through more support, including providing facilities such as granting long vacations, working in less stressful tasks and psychological care such as conducting preliminary screenings and holding individual and group counseling for non-native soldiers.

Keywords

References

1. Rostami M, Rahmati-Najarkolaei F, Salesi M, Azad E. A systematic review of suicide prevention interventions in military personnel. Archives of suicide research. 2020:1-19. doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2020.1848669 2. Stellrecht NE, Gordon KH, Van Orden K, Witte TK, Wingate LR, Cukrowicz KC, et al. Clinical applications of the interpersonal‐psychological theory of attempted and completed suicide. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2006;62(2):211-22. doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20224 3. King RA, Schwab-Stone M, Flisher AJ, Greenwald S, Kramer RA, Goodman SH, et al. Psychosocial and risk behavior correlates of youth suicide attempts and suicidal ideation. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2001;40(7):837-46. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200107000-00019 4. Simonetti JA, Mackelprang JL, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Zatzick D, Rivara FP. Psychiatric comorbidity, suicidality, and in-home firearm access among a nationally representative sample of adolescents. JAMA psychiatry. 2015;72(2):152-9. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.1760 5. Dempsey CL, Benedek DM, Zuromski KL, Riggs-Donovan C, Ng THH, Nock MK, et al. Association of firearm ownership, use, accessibility, and storage practices with suicide risk among US Army soldiers. JAMA network open. 2019;2(6):e195383-e. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.5383 6. Pruitt LD, Smolenski DJ, Bush NE, Tucker J, Issa F, Hoyt TV, et al. Suicide in the military: understanding rates and risk factors across the United States’ armed forces. Military medicine. 2019;184(Supplement_1):432-7. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usy296 7. Cerel J, van de Venne JG, Moore MM, Maple MJ, Flaherty C, Brown MM. Veteran exposure to suicide: Prevalence and correlates. Journal of affective disorders. 2015;179:82-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.03.017 8. Hom MA, Stanley IH, Gutierrez PM, Joiner TE. Exploring the association between exposure to suicide and suicide risk among military service members and veterans. Journal of affective disorders. 2017;207:327-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2016.09.043 9. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Ruiz P. Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. 11th ed. New Delhi: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2015. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-37072-000 10. Bakhtar M, Rezaeian M. A survey on the suicidal behavior in Iranian military forces: a systematic review study. Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences. 2018;16(11):1065-80. [In Persian] doi: 20.1001.1.17353165.1396.16.11.6.8 11. Cavalcante FG, Minayo MCdS. Qualitative study on suicide attempts and ideations with 60 elderly in Brazil. Ciencia & Saude Coletiva. 2015;20:1655-66. doi: 10.1590/1413-81232015206.06462015 12. Anisi J, Majdian M, Mirzamani SM. The factors associated with suicide ideation in Iranian soldiers. Iranian journal of psychiatry. 2010;5(3):97. https://ijps.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijps/article/view/365. 13. Flood A, Keegan RJ. Cognitive Resilience to Psychological Stress in Military Personnel. Frontiers in Psychology. 2022;13. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.809003 14. Ursano RJ, Mash HBH, Kessler RC, Naifeh JA, Fullerton CS, Aliaga PA, et al. Factors associated with suicide ideation in US Army soldiers during deployment in Afghanistan. JAMA network open. 2020;3(1):e1919935-e. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.19935 15. Conner KR, Simons K. State of innovation in suicide intervention research with military populations. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior. 2015;45(3):281-92. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12130 16. Ursano RJ, Kessler RC, Stein MB, Naifeh JA, Nock MK, Aliaga PA, et al. Medically documented suicide ideation among US Army soldiers. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior. 2017;47(5):612-28. doi: 10.1111/sltb.12316 17. Afifi TO, Taillieu T, Zamorski MA, Turner S, Cheung K, Sareen J. Association of child abuse exposure with suicidal ideation, suicide plans, and suicide attempts in military personnel and the general population in Canada. JAMA psychiatry. 2016;73(3):229-38. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.2732 18. Anisi J, Najarkolaei FR, Esmaeeli A, Hagghi A. Evaluate the effect of problem solving skills to reduction of suicidal ideation of soldiers. EBNESINA. 2014;16(1):42-6. [In Persian]. http://ebnesina.ajaums.ac.ir/article-1-282-fa.html 19. Nouri R, Fathi-Ashtiani A, Salimi S, Soltani Nejad A. Effective factors of suicide in soldiers of a military force. Journal Mil Med. 2012;14(2):99-103. http://militarymedj.ir/article-1-944-en.html 20. Nosratabadi M, Halvaiepour Z. A structural equation modeling of the relationships between depression, drug abuse and social support with suicidal ideation among soldiers in Iran in 2015. Journal of research in health sciences. 2016;16(4):212-6. http://jrhs.umsha.ac.ir/index.php/JRHS/article/view/2803 21. Hosseini Z, Fariborzi E. The relationship between aspects of identity with suicidal thoughts among army soldiers. EBNESINA 2016; 17 (4) :19-24. [In Persian]. http://ebnesina.ajaums.ac.ir/article-1-368-en.html 22. Straud CL, Moore BA, Hale WJ, Baker M, Gardner CL, Shinn AM, Cigrang JA, Litz BT, Mintz J, Lara-Ruiz JM, Young-McCaughan S. Demographic and occupational risk factors associated with suicide-related aeromedical evacuation among deployed US military service members. Military medicine. 2020 Nov;185(11-12):e1968-76. doi:10.1093/milmed/usaa201 23. Aghapoor E, Mesri M. Effects of Socio-Cultural Factors on Quality of Life in a Group of Soldiers: Based on Quranic Teachings. Quran and Medicine. 2011; 1(2):19-24. doi: 10.5812/quranmed.4976 24. Beck AT, Kovacs M, Weissman A. Assessment of suicidal intention: the Scale for Suicide Ideation. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology. 1979;47(2):343. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.47.2.343 25. Anisi J, Fathi-Ashtiyani A, Salimi H, Ahmadi K. Assess the validity and validity of the Beck Suicide ideation Scale (BSSI) in Soldiers. Journal of Military Medicine 2005;7(1):33-37. [In Persian]. https://www.sid.ir/paper/62015/fa 26. Fakhari A, Smadi-Rad B, Akhbari-Shojaei M, Olfati N. The role of social and health consequences of immigration in the suicide of marginal immigrants of Tabriz: an exploratory study in the framework of grounded theory. 2009;31(2):65-72. [In Persian]. https://mj.tbzmed.ac.ir/fa/Article/6143 27. Mesgar A, Taheri M. The role of external factors in self-mutilation and suicide in IRI Army soldiers. J Military Sci & Tactics. 2014;10(27):67-89.[In Persian]. http://www.qjmst.ir/article_22357.html 28. Anisi J, Fathi-Ashtiani A, Soltani Nejad A, Amiri M. Prevalence of suicidal ideation in soldiers and its associated factors. Journal Mil Med. 2006;8(2):113-8. [In Persian]. http://militarymedj.ir/article-1-207-fa.html 29. Capron DW, Norr AM, Macatee RJ, Schmidt NB. Distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity cognitive concerns: Testing the incremental contributions of affect dysregulation constructs on suicidal ideation and suicide attempt. Behavior Therapy. 2013;44(3):349-58. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2012.12.002 30. Farsi Z, Jabary MM, Ebadi A. General health assessment of Army soldiers seen in a military medical outpatient clinic in Tehran. 2006;4(3):923-930. [In Persian]. https://www.sid.ir/paper/96591/fa.
Journal of Military Medicine
Volume 24, Issue 8 - Serial Number 117
November and December 2022
Pages 1539-1546

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics