Experiential Avoidance, Pain, and Suicide Risk in a National Sample of Gulf War Veterans.
OBJECTIVE: Pain confers risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Experiential avoidance (EA), which is relevant to both pain and suicide risk, has not been studied as a potential mechanism for this relationship. The present study tested the hypothesis that pain indirectly impacts suicide risk through EA in a national sample of Gulf War veterans. METHODS: Participants included a stratified random sample of United States veterans (N = 1,012, 78% male) who had served in the Gulf War region between August 1990 and July 1991. Validated scales were used to quantify levels of pain, EA, and suicide risk. RESULTS: Regression analyses indicated independent associations between pain, EA, and suicide risk; moreover, the association between pain and suicide risk was no longer significant once EA was included in model. Bootstrapping analyses confirmed that EA partially accounted for the cross-sectional association between pain and suicide risk, independent of common co-occurring problems, such as depression, PTSD, and alcohol use disorder symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: EA could be a key modifiable risk factor to target in people experiencing pain.
Duke Scholars
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- Veterans
- United States
- Suicidal Ideation
- Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
- Pain
- Male
- Humans
- Gulf War
- Female
- Cross-Sectional Studies
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Location
Related Subject Headings
- Veterans
- United States
- Suicidal Ideation
- Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
- Pain
- Male
- Humans
- Gulf War
- Female
- Cross-Sectional Studies