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Exploring the Relationship Between Moral Injury and PTSD Symptoms in Suicide Attempt Survivors

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Abstract

Background

Research has suggested that some individuals report posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following a suicide attempt (SA). However, there is debate as to whether one’s own SA should be recognized as a criterion event for PTSD symptoms. Alternatively, trauma research has identified moral injury as a consequence of trauma that is related to PTSD and broader mental health issues. The present study had two primary aims: to broadly explore PTSD and perceptions of one’s SA as a PMIE; and to expand our understanding of the relationship between PTSD and PMIEs among SA survivors.

Methods

Participants (N = 152) reporting a lifetime SA were recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to complete self-report measures of PTSD symptoms and PMIE specific to their SA, as well as self-report measures of shame, and guilt. Descriptive statistics and regressions were used to examine the study aims. Levels of PTSD symptoms and PMIE secondary to a SA were comparable with previous samples.

Results

Perceptions of one’s SA as a PMIE were statistically significantly associated with global PTSD symptoms, while PTSD intrusion symptoms were uniquely associated with perceptions of one’s SA as a PMIE.

Conclusions

The results from this study suggest that a SA is a potentially traumatic event that could lead to symptoms of PTSD and perceptions of one’s SA as a PMIE.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Florida State University Bess H Ward Honors Thesis Award and the Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32304, USA

    Savannah J. Woller, Joseph W. Boffa & Norman B. Schmidt

  2. Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Joseph W. Boffa

  3. Education and Clinical Center, South Central Mental Illness Research, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Joseph W. Boffa

Authors
  1. Savannah J. Woller
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  2. Joseph W. Boffa
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  3. Norman B. Schmidt
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by SW and JB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SW and JB and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Savannah J. Woller.

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Conflict of Interest

Savannah J. Woller, Joseph W. Boffa and Norman B. Schmidt declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. This study was approved by the Institutional Review board of Florida State University (No. 00000235).

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No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Woller, S.J., Boffa, J.W. & Schmidt, N.B. Exploring the Relationship Between Moral Injury and PTSD Symptoms in Suicide Attempt Survivors. Cogn Ther Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10356-x

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