The influence of romantic relationships in assessment of suicide risk in U.S. Army soldiers

Even though suicide theories highlight the importance of interpersonal connection, little is known about how romantic relationships impact suicide risk among military personal seeking treatment for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Data were drawn from active-duty U.S. Soldier participants with suicidal ideation engaged in a suicide-focused treatment - the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS). This exploratory study used a mixed-methods approach to examine two aims: (a) frequencies in which romantic relationships were endorsed in the context of the initial the Suicide Status Form (SSF; the multipurpose clinical tool used in CAMS) and (b) if having endorsed romantic relationships were implicated in their suicidal thoughts and self-inflicted injuries regardless of intent (i.e., non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts). We found that 76% of participants mentioned a romantic partner in at least one qualitative assessment item on the SSF. More specifically, 22.6% identified their romantic relationship as a reason for living or a reason for dying, and half of those participants indicated that their romantic relationship was both a reason for living and dying. Soldier participants who identified a current romantic relationship problem, were significantly more likely to have made a self-inflicted injury regardless of intent in their lifetime. Overall, suicidal thoughts and behaviors are intertwined with romantic relationship dynamics, and suicide-focused interventions may benefit from directly addressing these relationship issues with active-duty Soldiers.