The Relationship between Referral Source to Behavioral Health Treatment and Suicidal Ideation Severity among Suicidal Soldiers

Abstract

The research on referral source regarding suicidal service members (SM) and their associated outcomes is limited. As such, to further prevent military suicides, the current study focused on referral source to behavior health treatment (BH). Specifically, the authors investigated whether referral source to BH is associated to differences in suicidal ideation severity, overall symptom distress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, and resiliency among active duty U.S. Army Soldiers. This is a secondary analysis of a larger randomized controlled trial of 148 suicidal Soldiers. A quasi-independent variable (i.e., referral source) was reliably coded where Soldiers were categorized into four groups: those who self-referred, those who were command-referred, those who were referred by others to BH, and those cases in which the referral source was unclear (unknown). A one-way ANOVA indicated that referral source is significantly associated to differences in Soldiers’ baseline suicidal ideation current scores (Scale for Suicide Ideation-Current [SSI-C]). Likewise, multiple comparisons revealed that when Soldiers were referred by significant others, family members, and (or) friends to BH, they reported lower SSI-C than those that were referred to treatment by their respective chain of command. Thus, it appears that when suicidal Soldiers’ loved ones refer them to BH, they tend to have a lower degree of suicidal ideation than those whose chain of command refers them. Conclusions and study limitations are discussed.

Keywords:

• Service member
• military suicide
• health services
• mental health behavioral symptoms
• suicidal ideation

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of the Army through the federal grant award W81XWH-11-1-0164, awarded and administered by the Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP). The views expressed in this presentation are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Army, the US Army Medical Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the United States Government.