No abstract

Suicide is a prevalent problem among veterans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychiatric conditions, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are potentially important risk factors for suicide in this population, but the literature is limited by a dearth of research on female veterans and imprecise assessment of TBI and suicidal behavior. This study examined 824 male and 825 female U.S. veterans who were enrolled in the baseline assessment of the Veterans After-Discharge Longitudinal Registry (Project VALOR), an observational registry of veterans with and without PTSD who deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and were enrolled in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Results indicated that current depressive symptoms, PTSD, and history of prior TBI were all significantly associated with current suicidal ideation (Cohen's d = 0.91, Cramers' Vs = .19 and .08, respectively). After adding a number of variables to the model, including psychiatric comorbidity, TBI history was associated with increased risk of current suicidal ideation among male veterans only (RR = 1.55). TBI is an important variable to consider in future research on suicide among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly among male veterans.

Prior research has indicated that childhood sexual abuse (CSA), alcohol use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are important risk factors for adult sexual assault (ASA). A notable limitation of this prior work, however, is that it has almost exclusively focused on heterosexual women. The present study sought to remedy this by examining the extent to which CSA, alcohol use, and PTSD symptoms related to ASA among lesbians (n = 122) and gay men (n = 117). Using structural equation modeling, we found that alcohol use was the best predictor of ASA among lesbians whereas CSA was the best predictor of ASA among gay men. These results suggest that certain risk factors may be differentially related to ASA among groups with different sexual orientations. Such findings deepen our current understanding of ASA and offer important directions for reducing the risk of ASA for lesbian and gay individuals.