Does childhood trauma place service members at an increased risk for suicidal ideation?

A previous assessment of US Army Soldiers who died by suicide or attempted suicide found a high prevalence of childhood trauma (61%); however, the research scope was limited by the inability to quantify the association between experiencing childhood trauma and suicidal behavior due to a lack of existing data. The current study, a cross-sectional analysis of 819 Sailors aims to explore the association between childhood trauma and adulthood suicidal ideation. Sailors were categorized as having experienced childhood trauma if they reported experiencing any of the following during childhood: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, parental separation/divorce, domestic violence, family drug/alcohol abuse, family mental health problem or a family member in jail. Over 60% of the population reported some kind of childhood trauma, and 22% of the population reported 4 or more different types of trauma. Experiencing any form of childhood trauma increased the risk of reporting suicidal ideation as an adult 2 to 3-fold. Findings suggest that Sailors with a history of childhood trauma are at higher risk for expressing suicidal ideation. Developing suicide prevention interventions specific to service members with a history of childhood trauma could be beneficial.