Alcohol Involvement in Firearm-Related Suicides Among Young, Middle-Aged and Older Men

Background:

Suicide, a widely recognized problem for its ruinous impact over 44,000 lives each year, is the 10^th leading cause of death in the United States. According to the CDC (2016), among all gun violence cases involving males, 60 percent were gun-related suicides. At least a third of all men who died from suicide had also consumed alcohol preceding the suicide. However, few studies have investigated age-specific demographics as factors predicting firearm-related suicide among males, especially when alcohol involvement is a co-occurring mental health warning sign. This presentation will present evidence to heighten awareness for preventing alcohol use when signs of suicide are also present to reduce or eliminate fatal deaths caused by firearm violent acts.

Method:

The National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) is a state-based surveillance system that provides detailed accounts of violent deaths in the United States. This study used the 2015 restricted NVDRS data with attention to male suicide decedents aged 18 years and older who used a gun to complete suicide. It aims to analyze patterns of alcohol use preceding the suicide in association to suicide method choices. The NVDRS data were used to investigate if there is a relationship between alcohol use preceding a suicide and the probability of fatal death caused by gun use.

Results:

Statistical analyses from the 2015 NVDRS compared male decedents choosing firearm vs. non-firearm methods, with evidence showing that alcohol involvement preceding suicide is related to the misuse of gun. Results show that, compared to other methods, age is a significant factor associated with firearm use prior to suicide. In particular concern is that 41 percent of 1,727 male suicide decedents with alcohol involvement used firearms. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to find factors associated with the presence of alcohol involvement versus absence of alcohol use. Young and middle-aged males are more likely to use alcohol prior to firearm suicide compared to their counterparts in advanced age who use other methods (OR= 1.09, p < .03). Other demographic comparative data will also be reported between alcohol and no alcohol involvement to predict firearm suicide.

Discussion and Conclusion:

The National Alliance of Mental Illness (2017) reported that suicide prevention is a public health, mental health, as well as social justice issue. Social workers should evaluate clients of all age groups who have suicidal behaviors in terms of their co-occurring illnesses. Alcohol screening and probing for disclosure of owning/storing firearms in the home is an effective strategy to assess suicide risks. Since firearm use represents violent acts, if it is linked to alcohol involvement, it can activate gun misuse that causes violent deaths. Policy advocacy for program funding should consider gender and age differences so that prevention efforts can pay attention to the co-occurrence of alcohol and gun misuse. It will raise awareness that there is a greater opportunity to rescue and treat. Planning effective suicide prevention programs that are gender sensitive can also help gun users become more responsible in their behaviors, thus closing the mental health education gap.