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Research explores increasing suicide rates in US military

Increasing suicide rates among the U.S. military may be due to demographic changes, increased rates of pre-enlistment behavioral and psychological problems and changing recruitment patterns following the shift from draft to all-volunteer force method, according to findings in Armed Forces and Society.

“Historically, the U.S. military has had a lower suicide rate than the civilian population, and the suicide rate among U.S. military personnel has typically decreased during wartime,” James Griffith, PhD, and Craig J. Bryan, PsyD, ABPP, of the National Center for Veterans Studies, University of Utah, wrote. “After 2000, however, the suicide rate among military personnel increased from 10.3 suicides per 100,000 service members in 2001 to 15.8 suicides per 100,000 in 2008. This 50% increase across all the armed services was largely due to the doubling of the suicide rate in the U.S. Army.”

Craig J. Bryan

Griffith and Bryan applied Durkheim’s theory of suicide to relevant literature to potentially explain the increasing rates of suicide in the U.S. military.

According to Griffith and Bryan, increasing suicide rates among the U.S. military are partially due to early developmental experiences found in recent generations.

Birth cohort size and nonmarital births — presumed indicators of Durkheim’s social integration and behavioral regulation — have increased in recent years, which has led to less assimilated offspring and less regulated idiosyncratic behaviors, the researchers stated.

Evidence of demographic shifts in the U.S. Army over time, increased rates of pre-enlistment behavioral problems and psychological issues, and changes in recruitment patterns following the switch from draft to all-volunteer force.

“Owing to its unique population, increased vulnerability to suicide is more evident in the U.S. military than in the civilian population. In light of evidence supporting birth cohort characteristics that reflect behavioral regulation and social integration, some benefit may be achieved in considering Durkheim’s theoretical tenets to examine and explain suicides in the U.S. military. Several new directions for future suicide research, policy and practice in the U.S. military are therefore implicated,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.