Unit Cohesion and Social Support as Protective Factors Against Suicide Risk and Depression Among National Guard Service Members

Abstract

Introduction: Suicide and depression continue to be pervasive problems across military populations, including within the National Guard. Existing literature highlights the protective effects of social support and unit cohesion for both suicide risk and depression, yet to our knowledge, these associations have never been confirmed in National Guard populations. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of social support resources (i.e., general social support and unit cohesion) on depression and suicide risk among a large sample (n = 877) of National Guard service members. Methods: Multilevel modeling was used to examine the impact of social support resources on depression and suicide ideation at both the individual and unit level. Results: Results indicated that higher levels of perceived social support were associated with lower levels of depression and suicide ideation at both the individual and unit levels. Additionally, higher levels of perceived unit cohesion significantly predicted lower levels of depression and suicide ideation at the individual, but not unit level. Discussion: Limitations include self-report measurement and cross-sectional nature of the data. These findings hold implications for improvement of operational climate within military units and reduction of suicide risk and depressive symptoms among National Guard service members.

Social closeness and support are associated with lower risk of suicide among U.S. Army soldiers

“…Third, the unit of analysis for the unit cohesion constructs was on the individual level, as reported by an informant. More recent research is needed examining unit cohesion from the perspective of the informant and comparing the individual-and unit-level cohesion factors related to STBs (Campbells-Sills et al, 2020;Rugo et al, 2020).…”

“…Military personnel who feel valued and appreciated by their colleagues experience less suicidal ideation (Bryan & Hernandez, 2013). More recently, Rugo et al (2020) found higher levels of perceived unit cohesion predicted lower levels of depression and suicidal ideation at the individual level and not the unit level in a National Guard Sample. Campbell-Sills et al (2020) reported the important influence of horizontal (peer bonds) and vertical unit cohesion (leadership and subordinates bonds) as a buffer of stress and symptoms of PTSD, depression, and suicidal ideation (Campbell-Sills et al, 2020).…”

The dark side of teamwork–the relationship between social stressors, social resources and team member well-being in monocultural and multicultural work teams

“…Team cohesion is not only associated with perceived differences among team members, it is also related to social support (Urien et al , 2017). A positive relationship is suggested between team cohesion and social support (Rugo et al , 2020), hence a lower level of cohesion may be associated with lower levels of social support amongst team members.…”

The Airman’s Edge Project: A Peer-Based, Injury Prevention Approach to Preventing Military Suicide

“…Critically, this protective effect can be derived from the unit to which a service member is assigned. For example, service members are significantly less likely to report suicide ideation when they are assigned to units with people who report a high level of perceived social support [ 26 ]. Trauma-exposed service members also report less severe emotional distress when assigned to units with people who report experiencing positive emotions more frequently [ 27 ].…”