Assessing the unique role of religious coping in suicidal behavior among U.S. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Abstract

In this study we examined relations of positive and negative religious coping with risk for suicidal behavior in a sample of Iraq and/or Afghanistan Veterans. Participants completed self-report instruments assessing risk for suicidal behavior, religious coping, general combat exposure, morally injurious experiences, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Frequency analyses revealed that half of all participants endorsed being religious, and adaptively drawing on religion to cope was more common than maladaptive coping. However, positive religious coping was not associated with suicidal behavior at the time of the study. In contrast, negative religious coping was uniquely associated with the risk for suicide when we controlled for demographic risk factors, war-zone experiences, depression, and PTSD. Although we expect adaptive reliance on religion to be beneficial for mental health, veterans who experience internal and/or external conflicts in the spiritual domain may be at increased risk for engaging in suicidal behavior following their war-zone service.

Religiosity and the psychological outcomes of trauma: A systematic review of quantitative studies

“…Consistent pattern of associations was found in the case of negative religious coping and symptoms of disorders: depression (Ahrens et al, ; Henslee et al, ; Leaman & Gee, ), PTSD (Berzengi, Berzenji, Kadim, Mustafa, & Jobson, ; Cuevas et al, ; Currier et al, ; Gerber et al, ; Harris et al, ; Leaman & Gee, ; McCann & Webb, ; Park et al, ; Raines et al, ; Wortmann et al, ; Zukerman, Korn, & Fostick, —only in women; Zukerman, Korn, Shapiro, & Fostick, , avoidance symptoms), distress (Chan & Rhodes, ), suicidal ideations (Currier, Smith, & Kuhlman, ; Kopacz et al, ; Raines et al, ), and substance use (Raines et al, ). Lack of significant associations between the negative coping and symptoms of PTSD was demonstrated in Ahrens et al (), Al‐Hadethe et al (), and Chan and Rhodes ().…”

Moral Injury: An Integrative Review

“…A considerable body of research has shown that exposure to PMIEs is associated with varied psychiatric symptoms among U.S. military personnel and veterans (Bryan, Bryan, Morrow, Etienne, & Ray‐Sannerud, ; Currier, Holland, Drescher et al., ; Currier, Holland, & Mallot, ; Currier, Smith et al., ; Dennis et al., ; Jordan, Eisen, Bolton, Nash, & Litz, ; Maguen et al., , ; Maguen, Vogt et al., ; Nash et al., ); Vietnamese veterans and civilians involved with the Vietnam War (Korinek, Loebach, & Teerawichitchainan, ); the Israeli Defense Force (Ritov & Barnetz, ); Portuguese Colonial War veterans (Ferrajão & Oliveira , , ); deployed healthcare providers (Gibbons, Shafer, Hickling, & Ramsey, ); professionals and parents involved with child protection services (Haight, Sugrue, & Calhoun, ; Haight, Sugrue, Calhoun, & Black, ); police officers (Komarovskaya et al., ); educators (Currier, Holland, Rojas‐Flores, Herrera, & Foy, ); and refugees (Nickerson et al., ). Furthermore, Wisco et al.…”

“…Relative to military personnel who have PTSD and deny exposure to PMIEs, those who present with symptoms attributed to both PTSD and moral injury were more likely to report suicidal thoughts and behaviors and to have attempted suicide (Bryan et al., ). Specifically, personnel who reported violating their own values (Maguen et al., ), rejected previously held religious beliefs (Currier, Smith et al., ), reported spiritual distress (Kopacz, Hoffmire, Morley, & Vance, ), or felt unforgivable (Bryan, Theriault, & Bryan, ) appeared more likely to attempt suicide in some cases. Evidence is mixed as to whether exposure to PMIEs is associated with aggressive behavior (Dennis et al., ; Maguen et al., ; Worthen & Ahern, ) or problematic substance use (Currier, Farnsworth et al., ; Maguen et al., ; Maguen, Luxton et al., ; Tripp, McDevitt‐Murphy, & Henschel, ).…”

Does Religion/Spirituality Modify the Association of Stressful Life Events and Suicidal Ideation in Australian Men?

“…These measures of religiosity were based on a single item, particularly perceived importance of religion, potentially relating to low reliability affecting study results. Religiosity is a multidimensional phenomenon, and its other aspects, such as religious affiliation or religious coping (Currier et al 2017), may more strongly moderate the complex relationship between stressful life events and thoughts of suicide (Lawrence et al 2016b). In addition, we were not able to disentangle the perceived importance of religion in relation to the perceived importance of spirituality.…”