Perceptions of purpose, cohesion, and military leadership: A path analysis of potential primary prevention targets to mitigate suicidal ideation.

Autor: Trachik B; Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, U.S. Army Medical Directorate-West, Washington, DC, USA., Moscardini EH; Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA., Ganulin ML; Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, U.S. Army Medical Directorate-West, Washington, DC, USA., McDonald JL; Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, U.S. Army Medical Directorate-West, Washington, DC, USA., McKeon AB; The Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA., Dretsch MN; Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, U.S. Army Medical Directorate-West, Washington, DC, USA.; Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.; The Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.; Department of Behavioral Health, Tripler Army Medical Center (Tripler AMC), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA., Tucker RP; Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA., Sowden WJ; The Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.; Department of Behavioral Health, Tripler Army Medical Center (Tripler AMC), Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association [Mil Psychol] 2021 Oct 08; Vol. 34 (3), pp. 366-375. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Oct 08 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI: 10.1080/08995605.2021.1962184
Abstrakt: Rates of suicide in the US Army continue to rise, and by some accounts exceed the general population. This increase has renewed efforts to identify protective factors that may inform novel suicide prevention strategies. Previous research has demonstrated that a sense of purpose in life and perceived cohesion with military peers are related to a reduction in the severity of suicidal ideation (SI). Additionally, research in military samples supports decreased SI in Soldiers who endorse that their leaders convey a sense of purpose and meaning in their shared mission. However, no work has investigated whether these leadership styles relate to a sense of felt purpose and perceived cohesion in Soldiers and thus the indirect effect of these leadership styles on SI. Active duty Army Soldiers (n = 1,160) completed self-report measures of purpose in life (PiL), perceived cohesion, ethical leadership, loneliness, and SI. Indirect effect analyses were conducted to determine how leadership behaviors indirectly relate to SI through PiL and perceived cohesion. Indirect effect analyses revealed that ethical leadership had an indirect effect on reduced SI through increased PiL. In the same parallel indirect effect analysis, ethical leadership was related to less SI through increased perceived cohesion and decreased loneliness sequentially. Enhanced leadership training that effectively increases Soldier purpose may be an important primary prevention tool to mitigate the effect of suicide risk factors. This primary prevention strategy may help augment existing suicide surveillance and clinical prevention efforts to reduce Soldier risk for suicide.
Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
(This work was authored as part of the Contributor’s official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 USC. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under US Law.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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