Binge Drinking and Veteran Status Increase Risk for Suicide Planning in U.S. Adults

Abstract

Objective: Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death. Problematic alcohol use and service in the U.S. military confer elevated risk for suicide, yet it is unknown whether their combination further heightens the risk. Extant literature is circumscribed to veterans enrolled in Veterans Affairs care, those with diagnosed alcohol use disorder, or suicide mortality, resulting in notable literature gaps on non-Veterans Affairs-enrolled veterans, nondiagnostic problematic drinking behaviors, and premortality suicide risk. Method: To address these gaps, this study included U.S. adults who participated in the 2015–2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, representing 236,723,876 adults. Suicide ideation, planning, and attempt; veteran status; binge drinking, heavy drinking, and demographics were extracted from the cross-sectional self-report survey. Multivariable logistic regression examined suicide ideation, planning, and attempt as a function of veteran status and drinking variables after accounting for relevant demographics. Results: Veterans and nonveterans who reported binge or heavy alcohol use were more likely to report suicide risk. Veterans who engaged in binge drinking episodes were 33% more likely than nonveterans to report any suicide risk. Veteran males who reported binge alcohol use were 38% more likely than nonveteran males to report any suicide outcome. Veterans who reported binge drinking were 72% more likely to report suicide planning without an attempt relative to nonveterans. Conclusions: Efforts to reduce suicide planning among veterans reporting binge drinking are critically needed and present one avenue for reducing the likelihood of a suicide attempt or actual death by suicide.