Suicidality in Veterinarians: Trends at Different Career Stages and a Test of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

Abstract

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate sex differences in suicide ideation and attempt at different career stages and test hypotheses derived from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) in a sample of veterinarians.

Method

The sample of currently practicing veterinarians used for this study (N = 10,319) was derived from a larger sample. Participants completed an online self-report questionnaire.

Results

As predicted, women generally had a higher prevalence of suicide ideation and attempt across career stages, except men and women showed similar rates of suicide attempt after veterinary school. Contrary to hypotheses, no interaction effects between IPTS variables were observed. However, perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, and hopelessness exhibited the main effects of suicide ideation, and there were main effects of perceived burdensomeness and hopelessness on suicide attempt. Compared with perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, hopelessness had a relatively more robust relationship with suicide ideation. We also found a significant relationship between fearlessness about death and suicide attempt, but no relationship between self-reported pain tolerance and suicide attempt.

Conclusions

Some of our findings were consistent with the IPTS while others were not. Future research would benefit from a longitudinal examination of suicidality in veterinarians.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Female veterinarians generally had more severe suicidality than male veterinarians.

• There were no sex differences in suicide attempt after veterinary school.

• The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide had mixed support in a sample of veterinarians.

Keywords:

• IPTS
• suicide
• suicide attempt
• suicide ideation
• veterinarians

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge Dr. Randall Nett for his role in participant recruitment and survey design.

ETHICAL APPROVAL

This study was approved by the Auburn University Institutional Review Board, and all participants consented to study procedures.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 This analysis was also run using only perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. However, no significant interaction between perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness was found, regardless of whether hopelessness was included in the analysis.

2 Although we conceptualize lifetime suicide attempt as contributing to the development of acquired capability for suicide, we specified our model with suicide attempt as the criterion variable so that we could run a logistic regression and use pooled results from our multiple imputation. Ordinal regression in SPSS does not provide pooled results.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla, M.S., Cassidy Brydon, M.S., Johanna Branham, M.A., and Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Jordan Alvarez, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.

Cassidy Brydon

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla, M.S., Cassidy Brydon, M.S., Johanna Branham, M.A., and Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Jordan Alvarez, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.

Jordan Alvarez

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla, M.S., Cassidy Brydon, M.S., Johanna Branham, M.A., and Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Jordan Alvarez, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.

Johanna Branham

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla, M.S., Cassidy Brydon, M.S., Johanna Branham, M.A., and Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Jordan Alvarez, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.

Tracy K. Witte

Sydney N. Waitz-Kudla, M.S., Cassidy Brydon, M.S., Johanna Branham, M.A., and Tracy K. Witte, Ph.D., Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA. Jordan Alvarez, Department of Special Education, Rehabilitation, and Counseling, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.