Sexual Trauma and Combat During Deployment: Associations With Suicidal Ideation Among OEF/OIF/OND Veterans

Abstract

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, ) and the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory Sexual Harassment and Combat Experiences Scales (King, King, Vogt, Knight, & Samper, ). Deployment-related sexual trauma was significantly associated with recent suicidal ideation, adjusting for age and gender (β = .18, ηp (2) = .03) and additionally for combat (β = .17, ηp (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.

The Sexual Harassment–Suicide Connection in the U.S. Military: Contextual Effects of Hostile Work Environment and Trusted Unit Leaders

“…The rise in suicides relative to the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault has led to several research studies in recent years. Among veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Monteith, Menefee, Forster, Wanner, and Bahraini () observed deployment‐related sexual trauma was associated with suicide ideation, after controlling for differences in age, gender, and combat exposure. Belik, Stein, Asmundson, and Sareen () examined sexual trauma among Canadian military personnel, and observed sexual trauma (e.g., rape, sexual assault) was associated with suicide attempts in both men and women, even considering sociodemographic and mental health disorders.…”

Perceptions of Institutional Betrayal Predict Suicidal Self-Directed Violence Among Veterans Exposed to Military Sexual Trauma

“…Other studies have also found that the association between MST and adverse psychiatric outcomes remains significant when controlling for other types of interpersonal violence (e.g., childhood abuse, civilian sexual trauma) and combat (Kang, Dalager, Mahan, & Ishii, ; Luterek, Bittinger, & Simpson, ; Monteith et al., ). MST is also associated with more severe physical health outcomes and lower quality of life than civilian sexual trauma (Surís, Lind, Kashner, & Borman, ).…”

“…Veterans who screen positive for MST are more likely to have a history of suicide attempt, relative to Veterans without MST (Kimerling, Gima, Street, Smith, & Frayne, ; Klingensmith, Tsai, Mota, Southwick, & Pietrzak, ; Pavao et al., ). Further, multiple studies suggest that MST is also associated with suicidal ideation (Gradus, Street, Suvak, & Resick, ; Klingensmith et al., ; Monteith, Menefee, Forster, Wanner, & Bahraini, ).…”

Gender Differences in Machine Learning Models of Trauma and Suicidal Ideation in Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

“…This data-driven method allows for the simultaneous examination of predictors from a variety of domains and for the discovery of unanticipated associations with SI. The literature to date has largely documented hypothesis-driven, null-hypothesis-tested associations between gender, trauma, psychiatric symptomatology, and SI among veterans, which highlighted sexual harassment, PTSD, depression, and alcohol abuse as key predictors (Bryan et al, 2015;Gradus, Street, et al, 2013;Gradus et al, 2015;Jakupcak et al, 2009;Lemaire & Graham, 2010;Monteith et al, 2015;Pietrzak et al, 2010). This study extends that work by demonstrating that a supervised machine learning Variables with a dot to the right of the line contributed to predictive accuracy in the random forest, with higher numbers on the x-axis indicating stronger associations with suicidal ideation.…”

“…Studies have documented associations between sexual harassment during deployment and SI while accounting for mental health symptoms among female veterans specifically (Gradus, Street, et al., ). Recently, sexual harassment during deployment was shown to be associated with SI in a combined sample of male and female veterans after adjusting for combat exposure (Monteith, Menefee, Forster, Wanner, & Bahraini, ). Among military personnel and veterans currently enrolled in college classes, moderately sized associations were found for premilitary and military sexual trauma and SI in a gender‐stratified sample, although some were nonsignificant, likely owing to the small sample size (Bryan, Bryan, & Clemans, ).…”