Phenotypic predictors of suicide subtypes from pre-to postdeployment in active duty military personnel.

Military service members are at increased risk for suicide, but there are few strategies for detecting those who are at highest risk after a deployment. Using all available data collected from 4119 Military service members before and after their deployment to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom, we tested whether predeployment characteristics clustered together to predict postdeployment suicidal risk. Latent class analysis showed that three classes best characterized the sample at predeployment. Class 1 had significantly higher scores on PTSD severity pre- and postdeployment than Classes 2 and 3 (Ps < .001). At postdeployment, Class 1 also had a greater proportion of endorsement of lifetime and past year suicidal ideation than Classes 2 and 3 (Ps < .05) and a greater proportion of lifetime suicide attempts than Class 3 (P < .001). Class 1 also had a greater proportion of endorsement of past-30-days intention to act on suicidal thoughts than Classes 2 and 3 (Ps < .05) and past-30-days specific plan for suicide than Classes 2 and 3 (Ps < .05). The study showed that based only on predeployment data, it is possible to determine which service members might be at highest risk for suicidal ideation and behavior at postdeployment.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Lily Brown has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Defense. Mr. Zhu has received funding from the Department of Defense. Dr. Coon has received funding from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Young-McCaughan has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Fina has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Defense, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Boeing, and USAA. Dr. Dondanville has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Defense, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Boeing, and USAA. Dr. Ann Marie Hernandez reports no conflicts of interest. Dr. Litz has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Defense. Dr. Mintz has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Maurer reports no conflicts of interest. Dr. Kelly reports no conflict of interest. Dr. Peterson has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Bob Woodruff Foundation, and the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Bryan has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Defense. Dr. Williamson has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Defense.
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