Background: Increasing psychological distress due to out-of-area deployments is associated with a growing risk of suicidal behaviour in soldiers.
Materials and methods: A total of 200 military psychiatric inpatients of German Armed Forces hospitals, including n=100 soldiers with and n=100 without (control group) acute suicidality prior to admission were compared concerning sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.
Results: Significant predictors of suicidal ideation were a family history of alcohol abuse and pathological scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Suicide attempts were predicted by pathological MMPI scales, insufficient occupational education, family history of suicide attempts and the situation of basic military training.
Conclusion: Significant predictors of suicidal ideation were a family history of alcohol abuse and pathological scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Suicide attempts were predicted by pathological MMPI scales, insufficient occupational education, family history of suicide attempts and the situation of basic military training.