Table 1. Multivariable Associations of Sociodemographic and Service-Related Variables With Suicide Attempt Among Regular Army Enlisted Soldiers With and Without a History of Mental Health Diagnosisa.
| Variable | No Previous Mental Health Diagnosis (n = 103 525) | Any Previous Mental Health Diagnosis (n = 59 653) | Predictor by Mental Health Historyb | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OR (95% CI) | SREc | OR (95% CI) | SREc | ||
| Sociodemographic Predictors | |||||
| Sex | χ21 = 128.1; P < .001 | ||||
| Male | 1 [Reference] | 177 | 1 [Reference] | 637 | |
| Female | 2.6 (2.4-2.8) | 459 | 1.4 (1.3-1.5) | 907 | |
| Statistics | χ21 = 502.4; P < .001 | χ21 = 118.3; P < .001 | |||
| Current age | χ25 = 1.1; P = .95 | ||||
| <21 | 1.4 (1.1-1.9) | 246 | 1.7 (1.5-2.1) | 984 | |
| 21-24 | 1.1 (0.9-1.5) | 191 | 1.4 (1.2-1.6) | 729 | |
| 25-29 | 1.1 (0.9-1.3) | 180 | 1.1 (1.0-1.2) | 583 | |
| 30-34 | 1 [Reference] | 169 | 1 [Reference] | 524 | |
| 35-39 | 0.9 (0.7-1.3) | 160 | 0.8 (0.7-1.0) | 433 | |
| ≥40 | 0.9 (0.6-1.4) | 150 | 0.8 (0.6-1.0) | 430 | |
| Statistics | χ25 = 16.8; P = .005 | χ25 = 61.8; P < .001 | |||
| Race/ethnicity | χ24 = 4.6; P = .33 | ||||
| White | 1 [Reference] | 229 | 1 [Reference] | 747 | |
| Black | 0.7 (0.7-0.8) | 164 | 0.7 (0.7-0.8) | 540 | |
| Hispanic | 0.8 (0.8-0.9) | 191 | 0.8 (0.8-0.9) | 620 | |
| Asian | 0.8 (0.6-0.9) | 220 | 0.8 (0.7-1.0) | 725 | |
| Other | 1.0 (0.7-1.3) | 171 | 1.0 (0.8-1.2) | 615 | |
| Statistics | χ24 = 51.0; P < .001 | χ24 = 88.6; P < .001 | |||
| Education | χ23 = 21.6; P < .001 | ||||
| <High schoold | 1.9 (1.8-2.0) | 358 | 1.4 (1.3-1.5) | 929 | |
| High school | 1 [Reference] | 180 | 1 [Reference] | 633 | |
| Some college | 0.7 (0.5-0.9) | 121 | 0.9 (0.7-1.0) | 553 | |
| ≥College degree | 0.8 (0.6-1.0) | 123 | 0.8 (0.7-1.0) | 453 | |
| Statistics | χ23 = 307.4; P < .001 | χ23 = 130.0; P < .001 | |||
| Marital status | χ22 = 2.5; P = .28 | ||||
| Never married | 0.9 (0.9-1.0) | 206 | 1.0 (1.0-1.1) | 691 | |
| Currently married | 1 [Reference] | 222 | 1 [Reference] | 686 | |
| Previously married | 0.8 (0.5-1.1) | 164 | 1.0 (0.9-1.1) | 676 | |
| Statistics | χ22 = 5.5; P = .06 | χ22 = 0.3; P = .85 | |||
| Service-Related Predictors | |||||
| Age at Army entry, y | χ22 = 12.2; P = .002 | ||||
| <21 | 1.2 (1.0-1.3) | 221 | 0.9 (0.9-1.0) | 664 | |
| 21-24 | 1 [Reference] | 189 | 1 [Reference] | 720 | |
| ≥25 | 1.0 (0.8-1.2) | 189 | 1.1 (1.0-1.2) | 793 | |
| Statistics | χ22 = 6.7; P = .03 | χ22 = 5.3; P = .07 | |||
| Time in service, y | χ24 = 10.5; P = .03 | ||||
| 1 | 6.0 (4.7-7.7) | 446 | 5.2 (4.5-6.0) | 2942 | |
| 2 | 2.9 (2.3-3.6) | 217 | 2.5 (2.2-2.8) | 1388 | |
| 3-4 | 1.9 (1.6-2.3) | 132 | 1.7 (1.5-1.8) | 736 | |
| 5-10 | 1 [Reference] | 66 | 1 [Reference] | 412 | |
| >10 | 0.4 (0.3-0.6) | 27 | 0.5 (0.4-0.6) | 195 | |
| Statistics | χ24 = 352.7; P < .001 | χ24 = 634.9; P < .001 | |||
| Deployment status | χ22 = 3.7; P = .16 | ||||
| Never deployed | 1.9 (1.7-2.2) | 224 | 2.2 (2.0-2.4) | 737 | |
| Currently deployed | 1 [Reference] | 114 | 1 [Reference] | 337 | |
| Previously deployed | 2.4 (2.1-2.8) | 256 | 2.6 (2.4-2.8) | 855 | |
| Statistics | χ22 = 143.4; P < .001 | χ22 = 458.3; P < .001 | |||
| Delayed promotion | χ23 = 22.3; P < .001 | ||||
| Late promotion ≤2 mo | 2.1 (1.7-2.6) | 442 | 1.7 (1.5-2.0) | 1386 | |
| Late promotion >2 mo | 1.7 (1.4-2.0) | 350 | 1.3 (1.2-1.4) | 1086 | |
| On schedule promotion | 1 [Reference] | 215 | 1 [Reference] | 836 | |
| Not relevant because of ranke | 0.8 (0.7-1.0) | 172 | 0.7 (0.6-0.7) | 540 | |
| Statistics | χ23 = 100.8; P < .001 | χ23 = 228.9; P < .001 | |||
| Demotion | χ22 = 8.6; P = .01 | ||||
| Demoted in past year | 1.6 (1.3-1.8) | 443 | 1.4 (1.3-1.5) | 1234 | |
| Demoted before past year | 1.3 (1.0-1.6) | 265 | 1.1 (1.0-1.3) | 757 | |
| Never demoted | 1 [Reference] | 203 | 1 [Reference] | 629 | |
| Statistics | χ22 = 25.9; P < .001 | χ22 = 45.0; P < .001 | |||
| Military occupation | χ23 = 18.1; P < .001 | ||||
| Combat arms | 1.2 (1.1-1.3) | 233 | 1.2 (1.1-1.3) | 779 | |
| Special forces | 0.4 (0.2-0.8) | 67 | 0.6 (0.3-1.1) | 369 | |
| Combat medic | 1.4 (1.2-1.6) | 276 | 1.3 (1.2-1.5) | 848 | |
| Other | 1 [Reference] | 199 | 1 [Reference] | 648 | |
| Statistics | χ23 = 39.0; P < .001 | χ23 = 67.7; P < .001 | |||
Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; SRE, standardized risk estimate.
The sample of Regular Army enlisted soldiers (9650 cases [153 528 control person-months]) is a subset of the total Regular Army sample (193 617 person-months) from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) Historical Administrative Data Study. Control person-months were assigned a weight of 200 to adjust for undersampling.
Each 2-way interaction was examined separately in a model that included all of the sociodemographic and service-related variables but not the other 2-way interactions.
The SREs (number of soldiers with a suicide attempt per 100 000 person-years) were calculated assuming that other predictors were at their samplewide means.
Includes General Education Development credential, home study diploma, occupational program certificate, correspondence school diploma, high school certificate of attendance, adult education diploma, and other nontraditional high school credentials.
Soldiers above the rank of E4 are not promoted on a set schedule.