title: Co-occurring aggression and suicide attempt among veterans entering residential treatment for PTSD: The role of PTSD symptom clusters and alcohol misuse.
abstract: Aggression and suicidality are two serious public health concerns among U.S. veterans that can co-occur and share many overlapping risk factors. The current study aims to elucidate the contribution of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters defined by a five-factor model and alcohol misuse in predicting aggression and suicide attempts among veterans entering residential treatment for PTSD. Participants were 2570 U.S. veterans across 35 Veterans Health Administration sites. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to identify correlates of aggression only (n = 1471; 57.2%), suicide attempts only (n = 41; 1.6%), co-occurring aggression and suicide attempts (n = 202; 7.9%), and neither behavior (n = 856; 33.3%) over the past four months. When compared to veterans endorsing neither behavior, greater PTSD re-experiencing symptoms were related to suicide attempts (odds ratio [OR] = 1.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09-2.30), aggression (OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.02-1.26), and co-occurring aggression and suicide (OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.13-1.68), and higher PTSD dysphoric arousal symptoms and alcohol misuse symptoms were related to aggression (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.38-1.71; OR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.18-1.44, respectively) and co-occurring aggression and suicide (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.35-2.04; OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.28-1.75, respectively). Our findings suggest that assessment of PTSD symptom clusters and alcohol misuse can potentially help to identify veterans who endorse suicide attempts, aggression, or both concurrently. These results have important implications for risk assessment and treatment planning with U.S. veterans seeking care for PTSD.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: laura.watkins@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Sippel
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Pietrzak
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Northeast Program Evaluation Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Rani
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Northeast Program Evaluation Center, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Harpaz-Rotem
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012114:Residential Treatment / Q000379:methods*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans
keywords: Aggression; Alcohol; Dysphoric arousal; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Suicide; Veterans