Identifying suicide risk in Veterans with criminal-legal involvement: A latent profile analysis of criminogenic needs and posttraumatic stress

Abstract:Veterans with criminal legal system involvement (VCLI) are believed to be a particularly important group in suicide prevention efforts given high rates of death by suicide. Notably, there is significant overlap between risk factors for legal system involvement and suicide, particularly criminogenic needs and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. In this dissertation, a latent profile analysis was conducted using a sample of prior military service members in the community that endorsed a history of incarceration in adulthood and endorsed at least one criterion A traumatic event (N = 522). Based on six criminogenic need and four PTSD symptom indicators, results support five unique subgroups of VCLI in this sample characterized by lowest endorsement across indicators (Low profile, 55.4%); high endorsement of criterion C symptoms (Avoidant profile, 23.6%); high endorsement of criterion E symptoms and elevated endorsement of criterion B, education/employment difficulties, antisocial attitudes/orientation and antisocial personality/behavior (Threat-Reactivity profile, 5.2%); high endorsement across all PTSD symptom criteria and low to moderate endorsement of criminogenic needs (PTSS profile, 11.7%); and high endorsement across PTSD symptoms, and highest endorsement across nearly all criminogenic needs, particularly antisocial attitudes/orientation, antisocial personality/behavior, and substance abuse (High profile, 4.2%). There were significant differences across profiles based on era of active-duty military service, endorsement of other DSM-5 mental health conditions, and endorsement of potentially traumatic events based on what was available in the current study. A logistic regression analysis supported a significant relationship between profile membership and a history of suicide attempt when controlling for relevant covariates. The current findings suggest the identification of subgroups of VCLI may be helpful in identifying which VCLI are especially important to address in suicide prevention efforts and recidivism risk prevention efforts. Practice and policy implications of the current study’s results are discussed, and future directions for research are proposed.