Perceived Burdensomeness, Bullying, and Suicidal Ideation in Suicidal Military Personnel

Overview

Journal J Clin Psychol

Publisher Wiley

Specialty Psychology

Date 2019 Jul 24

PMID 31332803

Citations 2

Authors

Gavin A Crowell-Williamson

Martina Fruhbauerova

Christopher R DeCou

Katherine A Comtois

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Suicide is a major public health concern among military servicemembers and previous research has demonstrated an association between bullying and suicide. This study evaluated the association between workplace bullying and suicidal ideation via perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness which were hypothesized to mediate this association.

Method: Four hundred and seventy-one suicidal Army Soldiers and U.S. Marines completed self-report measures of suicidal ideation, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and bullying. A series of regressions were used to test the hypothesized mediation model using the baseline data from a larger clinical trial.

Results: Perceived burdensomeness was a significant mediator of the association between bullying and the level of suicidal ideation, but thwarted belongingness was not a significant mediator.

Conclusions: Perceived burdensomeness may represent a malleable target for intervention to prevent suicide among military service members, and should be evaluated further as an intervening variable with regard to suicidality in the setting of bullying victimization.

Citing Articles

Social Determinants of Suicide and Suicidality in Serving Military Personnel: A Global Scoping Review.

Dawes N, Topp S, Fullagar B, Selman J, Pak A, Devine S Health Promot J Austr. 2025; 36(2):e70030.

PMID: 40059091 PMC: 11891116. DOI: 10.1002/hpja.70030.

Exposure to Bullying or Hazing During Deployment and Mental Health Outcomes Among US Army Soldiers.

Campbell-Sills L, Sun X, Kessler R, Ursano R, Jain S, Stein M JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(1):e2252109.

PMID: 36692883 PMC: 10408263. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.52109.

Resilience as a Protective Factor in Basic Military Training, a Longitudinal Study of the Swiss Armed Forces.

Sefidan S, Pramstaller M, La Marca R, Wyss T, Sadeghi-Bahmani D, Annen H Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18(11).

PMID: 34199958 PMC: 8200239. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18116077.

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