The suicide rate among U.S. military veterans is nearly twice as high as that of the general population, and numerous studies have tried to explain why that is. In recent years, for instance, scientists have identified many genes associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and have developed polygenic risk scoring to identify individuals at higher risk of taking their own lives.
In a new study that builds upon this work, researchers at Yale and the National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) asked a crucial question: Do social factors such as personal relationships and social support help ward off suicidal thinking among those at higher genetic risk of suicide?