Suicide
Journal Article Annotations
2022, 3rd Quarter
Suicide
Annotations by Liliya Gershengoren
October, 2022
- Distinct groups of firearm owners with differential risk for suicide in the United States: A latent class analysis.
PUBLICATION #1 — Suicide
Distinct groups of firearm owners with differential risk for suicide in the United States: A latent class analysis.
Craig S Ross, Jaimie L Gradus, Michael B Siegel, Ted Alcorn, Suzanne Garverich, Alisa Lincoln
Abstract: Prev Med. 2022 Aug 28;107185. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107185. Online ahead of print.
Suicide is a leading cause of mortality and firearm suicide accounts for the majority of fatalities. Firearm owners are a diverse population and firearm-specific suicide prevention programs should be tailored to distinct at-risk firearm-owning groups. This study set out to identify groups of firearm owners with differential suicide risk having unique characteristics that could be used to customize suicide prevention efforts. We conducted a nationally-representative survey of 2646 firearm owners to assess individual suicide risk, suicide risk factors, and demographic characteristics. A Latent Class Analysis identified unique segments of firearm owners at increased risk of suicide with similar underlying suicide risk factors and demographic characteristics. We found almost one in ten (9.6%) of firearm owners were at increased risk of suicide with 25% reporting suicide ideation, 6.6% reporting suicide planning, and 1.8% reporting previous suicide attempts. We identified three unique groups of firearm owners with higher than average suicide risk. Relative to other groups of firearm owners, one at-risk group were more affluent with a history of adverse experiences and mental health challenges, a second group had more male veterans with high levels of alcohol consumption, and third group had more non-heterosexual women who experienced trauma. We conclude that there are three unique groups of firearm owners with higher than average suicide risk with very different characteristics. In addition to broad suicide prevention efforts, customized firearm suicide prevention programs should be developed individually for these different firearm-owning populations, taking into consideration the unique suicide risk factors and demographics of each group.
Annotation
The finding:
This survey of over 2600 gunowners identified three groups of firearm owners who demonstrated elevated risk of suicide. One group is comprised of women and persons with a non-heterosexual orientation who report long histories of adverse experiences and suffer from challenging mental health disorders, lower income and educational attainment, and disabilities that prevent them from working. A second group is characterized by a relatively high proportion of conflict zone veterans with high levels of alcohol use. A third group consists of mostly younger, higher income, and educated persons who identify as non-Hispanic white and have a history of adverse experiences and mental health challenges.
Strength and weaknesses: This study is the first nationally representative study of firearm owners to characterize subgroups with regard to suicide risk factors. One possible limitation might be the reported response rate of 66%. Self-report information from survey responses may be misclassified and is subject to multiple sources of bias including related to the social desirability of responses.
Relevance: C-L psychiatrists should inquire about firearm possession during clinical evaluations and can utilize the three unique groups of individuals identified in this study to identify patients at particularly elevated risk.