We measured high rates of personal technology use by service members at home across all popular electronic media. Soldiers at home essentially resembled civilian consumers in their use of popular technologies. Some technologies, including the Internet, gaming, and TV, were widespread on deployment. Others, most notably cellphones, were more restricted by availability, connectivity, opportunity, and military regulation in the warzone. Results will enable researchers and technology developers target their efforts on the most promising and popular technologies for psychological health in the military.

Identification of risk and protective factors for suicide is a priority for the United States military, especially in light of the recent steady increase in military suicide rates. The Department of Defense Suicide Event Report contains comprehensive data on suicides for active duty military personnel, but no analogous control data is available to permit identification of factors that differentially determine suicide risk. This proof-of-concept study was conducted to determine the feasibility of collecting such control data. The study employed a prospective case-control design in which control cases were randomly selected from a large Army installation at a rate of four control participants for every qualifying Army suicide. Although 111 Army suicides were confirmed during the study period, just 27 control soldiers completed the study. Despite the small control sample, preliminary analyses comparing suicide cases to controls identified several factors more frequently reported for suicide cases, including recent failed intimate relationships, outpatient mental health history, mood disorder diagnosis, substance abuse history, and prior self-injury. No deployment-related risk factors were found. These data are consistent with existing literature and form a foundation for larger control studies. Methodological lessons learned regarding study design and recruitment are discussed to inform future studies.

Military suicide has increased over the past decade and reports of Service Member and Veteran suicides receive media attention. Some methods of reporting suicide appear to cause a "media contagion" effect, potentially increasing suicide. This effect is explored in relation to media reports of both military and civilian suicides. To reduce possible contagion, recommendations for media reporting of suicides were adapted by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). We assessed 240 military and civilian newspaper reports of suicide from 15 different sources for compliance with the SPRC guidelines. Nearly all reviewed articles violated at least one guideline. Results highlighted military news articles regarding Service Members included more pejorative language and discussion of failed psychological treatment. Conversely, civilian articles romanticized the victim and provided more details regarding the suicide. Further exploration of military suicide reporting bias is discussed as a need in future research.

Purpose:This article examines how the Republic of Ireland conceptualizes disability, specifically acquired brain injury (ABI); how it meets the needs of people with ABI; and its similarities and difference with the U.S. system of ABI professional care, policy, and services. The article provides ideas for improvements and innovations toward ABI care in both countries.Method:Through a comprehensive literature review, the authors offer an illustrative case study comparison of Ireland’s similarities and uniqueness to the United States in their approach toward meeting the needs of persons with ABI.Results:Ireland is a country that is both similar and distinct to the United States in terms of its culture, economy, attitudes toward people with disabilities, and social welfare system. Areas in which both Ireland and the United States could benefit in influencing each other include policy development, service delivery, research, student and faculty exchanges, and collaboration with international organizations.Conclusion:Both Ireland and the United States have the potential to assist each other in improving their systems of care and the hope is to foster an interest in collaboration between the two countries so advancements in services may occur for those with ABI.

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