Examining the interaction of autism spectrum disorder-related traits and unit cohesion on suicide risk among military personnel

Autor: Austin J. Gallyer, Thomas E. Joiner, Ian H. Stanley, Taylor N. Day
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Autism-spectrum quotient
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Military service
Population
Protective factor
Article
PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Clinical Psychology
Suicidal Ideation
03 medical and health sciences
bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Psychology|Clinical Psychology
0302 clinical medicine
Risk Factors
mental disorders
medicine
Humans
education
Suicidal ideation
education.field_of_study
PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences|Clinical Psychology|Neurodevelopmental Disorders
medicine.disease
United States
030227 psychiatry
Cohesion (linguistics)
Suicide
PsyArXiv|Social and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry and Mental health
Clinical Psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Military Personnel
Autism spectrum disorder
bepress|Social and Behavioral Sciences
Autism
medicine.symptom
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Clinical psychology
Zdroj: J Affect Disord
ISSN: 0165-0327
Popis: Background Suicide rates are elevated among United States (U.S.) military service members. Research has found that service members with autism spectrum disorder-related (ASD-related) traits are at increased risk for suicide. Complementary lines of inquiry have suggested that unit cohesion is a protective factor against developing suicidal ideation in military service members. However, given the social difficulties inherent in ASD, it is unclear whether unit cohesion might protect against suicide risk in this population. Method Our sample consisted of 285 active duty U.S. military service members recruited online. We examined the interaction between ASD-related traits (as measured by the Autism Spectrum Quotient [AQ]), unit cohesion, and suicide risk (as measured by the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised [SBQ-R]). We also conducted exploratory analyses to examine whether unit cohesion attenuates the association between ASD-related traits and suicidal intent. Results Elevated ASD-related traits were independently associated with higher levels of global suicide risk; however, unit cohesion was not independently associated with suicide risk. Unit cohesion did not significantly interact with ASD-related traits to predict suicide risk. Finally, we found that elevated ASD-related traits and unit cohesion have an independent effect on current suicidal intent. Discussion Our findings suggest that unit cohesion might not buffer the effect of ASD-related traits on suicide risk. However, our results do show that greater unit cohesion may be independently associated with decreased suicidal intent. This study is limited by a cross-sectional design and use of self-report measures.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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