TY - JOUR

T1 - Trauma Exposure in Adulthood and Suicidal Experiences in Serving and Ex-Serving Military Personnel: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

AU - Angelakis, Ioannis

AU - Molina, Josh

AU - Winter, Charis

AU - Ford, Kat

AU - Kitchiner, Neil

AU - Elizabeth, Karen

PY - 2025/4/7

Y1 - 2025/4/7

N2 - Objective: To quantify the strength of the relationship between trauma exposure in adulthood and suicidal experiences in military individuals. Method: We searched three databases, namely, Medline, APA PsycINFO, and Embase, until the end of April 2022; we updated our searches twice, in October 2022 and in April 2024. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. We also applied univariate metaregressions whenever applicable. Results: Overall, we found that military sexual traumawas associated with an up to twofold increased likelihood for engagement in suicidal thoughts and behaviors (ORs ranging between 1.91 and 2.57). Our metaregressions showed that such military sexual trauma increased the likelihood of suicide attempts (b = −0.74, p = .01) in females and active military personnel (b = −1.08, p = .02). Other traumatic events, especially those that occurred prior to joining the military forces, also were associated with an increased likelihood for suicidal ideation and attempts.Exposure to combat scenes was also associated with an increased likelihood for suicidal ideation and attempts. Conclusions: This is the first study of its kind to identify and quantify traumatic events encountered in adulthood as risk factors for suicidal acts within this vulnerable population. Our findings call for an immediate attention when recruiting military personnel and suggest that all these crucial factors are assessed. We also recommend frequent follow-up assessments and the use of qualitative andmix-method approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying these relationships.

AB - Objective: To quantify the strength of the relationship between trauma exposure in adulthood and suicidal experiences in military individuals. Method: We searched three databases, namely, Medline, APA PsycINFO, and Embase, until the end of April 2022; we updated our searches twice, in October 2022 and in April 2024. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. We also applied univariate metaregressions whenever applicable. Results: Overall, we found that military sexual traumawas associated with an up to twofold increased likelihood for engagement in suicidal thoughts and behaviors (ORs ranging between 1.91 and 2.57). Our metaregressions showed that such military sexual trauma increased the likelihood of suicide attempts (b = −0.74, p = .01) in females and active military personnel (b = −1.08, p = .02). Other traumatic events, especially those that occurred prior to joining the military forces, also were associated with an increased likelihood for suicidal ideation and attempts.Exposure to combat scenes was also associated with an increased likelihood for suicidal ideation and attempts. Conclusions: This is the first study of its kind to identify and quantify traumatic events encountered in adulthood as risk factors for suicidal acts within this vulnerable population. Our findings call for an immediate attention when recruiting military personnel and suggest that all these crucial factors are assessed. We also recommend frequent follow-up assessments and the use of qualitative andmix-method approaches to understand the mechanisms underlying these relationships.

KW - military personnel

KW - veterans

KW - Trauma

KW - adulthood

KW - suicide experiences

U2 - 10.1037/tra0001775

DO - 10.1037/tra0001775

M3 - Article

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

JF - Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

SN - 1942-9681

ER -