Objective: Conceptual understandings of meaning-making suggest that it may have protective value in regard to alcohol misuse and suicidal behavior. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine whether meaning-making attenuated the relationship between alcohol misuse and suicide risk severity in a population of active-duty service members.
Methods: The sample (N = 97) was recruited while presenting for emergency behavioral health services in circumstances indicative of high-risk suicidality: endorsing current suicidal ideation with intent to die. Those who reported ideation with a lifetime history of a past suicide attempt were conceptualized as being in a more severe category of suicide risk than ideation without a lifetime history of a past suicide attempt. Participants completed the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test consumption questions, and items that assessed demographic variables. Data were analyzed using chi-squared test of independence, Fisher's exact test, Kendall rank correlation coefficient, and logistic regression modeling.
Results: Regression analysis identified a statistically significant association between number of drinks consumed daily and reporting a lifetime history of a past suicide attempt, odds ratio (OR) = 1.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.11, 2.32], p = .01. Number of drinks consumed remained significant even after adjusting for both the search for and presence of meaning, OR = 1.70, 95% CI [1.16, 2.51], p = .01. These results remained unchanged even when adjusting for gender, race, ethnicity, and relationship status. No statistically significant interaction effects were noted between meaning-making and alcohol consumption.
Conclusions: Meaning-making did not appear to attenuate the effect of alcohol misuse on suicide risk severity in a sample of service members at high-risk of suicidality. Additional research is needed to better understand the relationship among meaning-making, alcohol misuse, and suicidal behavior.
Keywords: Army; alcohol; meaning-making; mental health; substance abuse; suicide.