The association of military sexual assault and nonsuicidal self-injury in U.S. Gulf War-I era veterans

ABSTRACT

Military sexual assault (MSA) is a prevalent issue among military personnel that has been linked to adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The present study sought to investigate the relationship between MSA and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a national sample of Gulf War-I Era U.S. veterans. The study analyzed data from 1,153 Gulf War-I veterans collected through a cross-sectional survey that assessed demographic information, clinical outcomes, military background, and history of MSA and NSSI. MSA was found to be significantly associated with NSSI at the bivariate level (OR = 2.19, p < .001). Further, MSA remained significantly associated with NSSI (AOR = 2.50, p = .002) after controlling for relevant demographics and clinical outcomes. Veterans with a history of MSA were approximately two and half times more likely to engage in NSSI than veterans who had not experienced MSA. The present findings provide preliminary evidence linking MSA and NSSI. Further, the findings highlight the importance of assessing MSA and NSSI in veteran populations, particularly among those seeking treatment for PTSD.

KEYWORDS:

• Military sexual assault
• nonsuicidal self-injury
• posttraumatic stress disorder
• Gulf War-I veterans
• suicidal thoughts and behaviors

Consent participate

Informed consent was obtained from all participants described in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the United States Government or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Data availability statement

The present study was not preregistered. Neither the data nor materials are available on a permanent third-party archive. Requests for these materials may be sent to Nathan Kimbrel ([email protected]).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grant [I01HX001682] from the Health Services Research and Development Service from the VA Office of Research and Development, which was awarded to Drs. Kimbrel and Pugh. Dr. Beckham was supported by a Senior Research Career Scientist award from VA Clinical Sciences Research and Development [IK6BX00377]. Dr. Pugh was funded by a Research Career Scientist Award from VA Health Services Research and Development [IK6HX002608]. Dr. Halverson was supported by a VA Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship in Mental Illness Research and Treatment; Clinical Science Research and Development.