Childhood Maltreatment and Lifetime Suicidal Behaviors Among New Soldiers in the US Army: Results From the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS)

Objective: Understanding suicide risk is a priority for the US military. We aimed to estimate associations of childhood maltreatment with pre-enlistment suicidal behaviors in new Army soldiers.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from 38,237 soldiers reporting for basic training from April 2011 through November 2012 were analyzed. Scales assessing retrospectively reported childhood abuse and neglect were derived and subjected to latent class analysis, which yielded 5 profiles: No Maltreatment, Episodic Emotional Maltreatment, Frequent Emotional/Physical Maltreatment, Episodic Emotional/Sexual Abuse, and Frequent Emotional/Physical/Sexual Maltreatment. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to estimate associations of maltreatment profiles with suicidal behaviors (assessed with a modified Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale), adjusting for sociodemographics and mental disorders.

Results: Nearly 1 in 5 new soldiers was classified as experiencing childhood maltreatment. Relative to No Maltreatment, all multivariate maltreatment profiles were associated (P values < .001) with elevated odds of lifetime suicidal ideation (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] = 3.10-4.93), plan (AORs = 3.75-10.77), attempt (AORs = 3.60-15.95), and onset of plan among those with ideation (AORs = 1.40-3.10). Several profiles also predicted attempts among those with plans (AORs = 2.01-2.47), and Frequent Emotional/Physical/Sexual Maltreatment predicted unplanned attempts among ideators (AOR = 5.32). Adjustment for mental disorders attenuated but did not eliminate these associations.

Conclusions: Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with suicidal behavior among new soldiers, even after adjusting for intervening mental disorders. Among soldiers with lifetime ideation, certain maltreatment profiles are associated with elevated odds of subsequently planning and/or attempting suicide. Focus on childhood maltreatment might reveal avenues for risk reduction among new soldiers.