Combat Exposure and Risk of Suicide Attempt Among Danish Army Military Personnel.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the association between self-reported perceived danger during deployment, measured as combat exposure or witnessing the consequences of war, and post-deployment suicide attempts among military personnel. Furthermore, the effect of post-deployment symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression on the risk of suicide attempts was also evaluated.Methods: This observational cohort study included Danish Army military personnel who returned from deployment in international missions from 1998 to 2016 and had completed a post-deployment questionnaire. Perceived exposure to danger was ascertained by self-report. Data on suicide attempt were retrieved from national registers. Adjusted Cox regression analyses were used to evaluate if military personnel indicating high level of combat exposure were more likely to have attempted suicides post-deployment than military personnel with lower levels of combat exposure.Results: Eighty-three suicide attempts were registered after homecoming among 12,218 military personnel. Perceived higher exposure to combat was associated with the risk of suicide attempt (hazard ratio = 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.16). Furthermore, the association between combat exposure and suicide attempt was fully mediated by post-deployment symptoms of PTSD and/or depression. No association was found between witnessing consequences of war and the risk of post-deployment suicide attempt.Conclusions: This nationwide study found that combat exposure was associated with an increased risk of suicide attempt among military personnel. This association was, however, fully mediated by mental disorders (PTSD and/or depression). These findings suggest that better psychological follow-up of military personnel identified as having PTSD and/or depression may be warranted.

Leadership and post-traumatic stress disorder: are soldiers' perceptions of organizational justice during deployment protective?

Background: Soldiers' perception of leadership during military deployment has gained research attention as a potentially modifiable factor to buffer against the development of postdeployment post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Within nonmilitary research, the organizational justice (OJ) framework, i.e. distributive justice, procedural justice (PJ) and interactional justice (IJ), has been found to relate to mental health outcomes. Aspects of OJ may, therefore, be protective against PTSD. Objectives: We examined the prospective relationship between aspects of OJ, namely the perceptions of PJ and IJ by subordinate soldiers without leadership obligations in relationship to immediate superiors and PTSD. Method: Participants were soldiers (n = 245) deployed to Helmand Province in Afghanistan in 2009. Logistic regression procedures were used. The primary analysis measured PTSD cases using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis-I Disorder (SCID) 2½ years after homecoming. PJ/IJ was measured during deployment with a 6-item composite measure ranging from 0 to 12. Supplementary primary analyses were performed with PJ/IJ measured before and immediately after deployment. A secondary PJ/IJ analysis also tested against four postdeployment measures with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Civilian (PCL-C) dichotomized at screening symptom levels. Results: Higher levels of perceived PJ/IJ for soldiers without leadership obligations during deployment had a prospective relation (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.75-0.98) with PTSD on the SCID 2½ years after homecoming after adjustment for factors including predeployment PTSD symptoms, trauma and combat exposure, and state affectivity. Similar results were found by measuring PJ/IJ before (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.71-0.95) but not immediately after homecoming (OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.85-1.11). A relationship with PTSD symptoms at the screening level at the four measurements of PCL-C was found, but only when predeployment PTSD symptoms were not controlled for. Conclusions: These results suggest that PJ/IJ exercised by superiors in relation to military deployments may protect subordinate soldiers against the development of postdeployment PTSD.

Planteamiento: La percepción del liderazgo de los soldados durante un despliegue militar se ha ganado la atención de la investigación como factor potencialmente modificable para amortiguar el desarrollo del trastorno por estrés postraumático (TEPT) después de un despliegue militar. Dentro de la investigación no militar, se ha encontrado que el marco de justicia organizacional (JO) ­es decir, justicia distributiva, justicia procedimental (JP) y justicia interaccional (JI)­ está relacionado con resultados de salud mental. Algunos aspectos de la JO pueden, por lo tanto, proteger contra el TEPT.Objetivos: Examinamos la relación prospectiva entre los aspectos de la JO, es decir, las percepciones de JP y JI de los soldados subordinados sin obligaciones de liderazgo en relación a sus superiores inmediatos y al TEPT. Método: Los participantes fueron soldados (n = 245) desplegados en la provincia de Helmand en Afganistán en 2009. Se usaron procedimientos de regresión logística. El análisis principal midió los casos de TEPT mediante la Entrevista Clínica Estructurada para los trastorno del Eje I del DSM-IV-TR (SCID, por sus siglas en inglés) dos años y medio después del regreso a casa. Se midieron la JP y la JI durante el despliegue con una medida compuesta de seis elementos que van de 0 a 12. Se realizaron análisis primarios adicionales, midiendo la JP y la JI antes e inmediatamente después del despliegue. Un análisis secundario de la JP y la JI también se comparó con cuatro medidas posteriores al despliegue con la Lista de verificación del trastorno por estrés postraumático civil (PCL-C, por sus siglas en inglés) dicotomizada para los niveles de síntomas en la selección.Resultados: Niveles más altos de percepción de JP / JI en soldados sin obligaciones de liderazgo durante el despliegue tuvieron una relación prospectiva (OR = 0.86, 95% -IC = 0.75­0.98) con el TEPT en el SCID 2½ años después del regreso al hogar por factores que incluían síntomas de TEPT previos al despliegue, exposición al trauma y al combate, y afectividad de estado. Se encontraron resultados similares midiendo la JP y la JI antes (OR = 0,83; IC del 95% = 0,71­0,95) pero no inmediatamente después de la vuelta al hogar (OR = 0,97; IC del 95% = 0,85­1,11). Se encontró una relación con los síntomas de TEPT en el nivel de detección en las cuatro medidas del PCL-C, pero solo cuando no se controlaron los síntomas del TEPT antes del despliegue.Conclusiones: Estos resultados sugieren que la JP y la JI ejercidas por los superiores en relación con los despliegues militares puede proteger a los soldados subordinados de desarrollar un TEPT posterior al despliegue.