The Network Study: Soldiers Connecting for Work and Health

Patterns of Alcohol Use and Suicide-related Thoughts Among Recently Discharged Veterans: Risk Factors Associated With the Military-to-Veteran Transition

This study will examine the efficacy of an internet-based brief intervention designed to reduce risky behavior in Soldiers as they transition from Active Duty into the civilian workforce as a Veteran. Up to 700 soldiers intending to separate from the Army will be recruited, with the intention of drawing a final sample of 450 participants. Study participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention or the control group, stratified by age and gender.

The combination of alcohol use and negative emotional states is a particularly toxic combination for suicide risk. The current study examines changes in alcohol/drug use/misuse and depression as soldiers undergo the transition from Active Duty to Veteran and offers a personalized internet-based brief intervention intended to prevent/reduce alcohol misuse and depression in this population.

The study's objectives are to empirically quantify the form of changes that occur with respect to alcohol use and depression over the transition; to identify stable individual risk factors (e.g., personality, military experiences) and dynamic risk factors (e.g., changes in stressors and normative contexts over time) that may be associated with differential temporal patterns of suicide-related behavior (i.e., alcohol use/misuse) and cognition (i.e., depression); and lastly, to determine whether a simple, internet-delivered brief intervention shown can reduce risky behavior in the transitioning Veteran population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Is US solider intending to separate from active duty during the study enrollment period
• Intends to seek civilian employment
• Plans to live in US

Exclusion Criteria:

• Plans to retire and not seek civilian employment
• Plans to live outside of the US
• Is separating or retiring from the National Guard or Reserves