Suicide Attempts and Their Contributing Factors Among African American Veterans

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The rate of suicide attempts among veterans in the United States has increased tremendously since 2001, which has left the Department of Veterans Affairs deeply concerned. The purpose of this study was to examine if there is an association between suicide attempts among African American/Black veterans and mental health support, income level, marital status, education level, and unemployment status. This quantitative study used the socio-ecological model to explain the association of the contributing factors to suicide attempts. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and logistic regression were used to analyze the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. The publicly available dataset contains 55,271 cases with 6,698 Blacks/African American in the study. The findings of the study show 20% of African American veterans who seek support received it and 80% did not in suicide attempts among African American/ Blacks veterans and mental health support, income level, marital status, education level and unemployment status. The study showed there is a need for greater support for African American veterans through either policy or access to more mental health care. The social change implication is that need to be greater advocacy for support for African Americans who experience suicidal thought seeking support. Providing the support, they need can possibly help save lives