Suicide in United States Air Force Personnel, 1981-1985

Abstract

Five years of epidemiological data on suicide in the US Air Force was compiled. The annual crude suicide rate per 100,00 airmen-at-risk for 1981-1985 was found to be 11.0. Sex-specific, race-specific, age-specific, grade-specific, location-specific, and marital-status-specific rates were compared with published data from the US Air Force for the 1958-1964 time period and the differences noted. Demographic data and information on circumstances surrounding the suicidal act are also presented. Analysis of the suicidal person's psychosocial situation (as reflected in the kinds of personal problems recorded in the reports and investigations of the incident and as reflected in assessment made of the victims pre-suicidal motivational state ) showed remarkable constancy across the services, and indicates a powerful, consistent association between a dyadic love-object relationship in total collapse and the completed suicide. Reprints.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 24, 1988
Accession Number
ADA212529

Entities

People

  • Charles P. Mcdowell
  • Joseph M. Rothberg

Organizations

  • Walter Reed Army Institute of Research

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Personnel
  • Army Personnel
  • Classification
  • Data Processing
  • Death
  • Enlisted Personnel
  • Epidemiology
  • Health
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Medicine
  • Numbers
  • Psychiatry
  • Security
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.
  • Women's Health and Cancer Risk Research: African American Women and Pregnancy Outcomes.