Suicidal ideation in treatment-seeking Veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom: the role of coping strategies, resilience, and social support.

BACKGROUND Recent epidemiologic studies have found an increased risk of suicide among Veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF-OIF) with psychiatric disorders. However, little is known about whether variables other than psychiatric conditions, such as coping strategies, resilience, and social support, may be related to suicidality in this population. METHODS A total of 167 OEF-OIF Veterans seeking behavioral or primary care services completed a survey containing measures of combat exposure, psychopathology, pain, psychological resilience, social support, and cognitive coping strategies. RESULTS Thirty-six respondents (21.6%) reported contemplating suicide in the two weeks prior to completing the survey. Compared to suicide non-contemplators, suicide contemplators were older, and more likely to screen positive for depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and to report a deployment-related pain condition or complaint. They also scored higher on measures of worry, self-punishment, and cognitive-behavioral avoidance strategies, and lower on measures of psychological resilience and postdeployment social support. Multivariate analysis revealed that a positive depression screen, and higher scores on measures of self-punishment and cognitive-social avoidance coping were positively associated with suicidal ideation, while higher scores on measures of psychological resilience (i.e., positive acceptance of change) were negatively related to suicidal ideation. Moderator analysis revealed that a positive screen for depression or PTSD significantly diminished the protective effect of postdeployment social support on suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS 1 in 5 treatment-seeking OEF-OIF Veterans may contemplate suicide. Interventions to reduce depressive symptoms, and maladaptive cognitive-behavioral coping strategies of self-punishment and cognitive social avoidance, and to bolster psychological resilience may help mitigate suicidality in this population.