Firearm screening and intervention beliefs and practices among U.S. Air Force (USAF) mental health providers and behavioral health technicians.

Abstract

We examined beliefs and practices regarding firearm assessment and lethal means safety counseling (LMSC) among U.S. Air Force (USAF) mental health providers (MHPs) and behavioral health technicians (BHTs). Data were collected from 204 USAF MHPs (74.0%; n = 151) and BHTs (26.0%; n = 53) via an anonymous, voluntary survey. A modest proportion indicated they strongly/extremely believe that firearm ownership (42.2%) and storage practices (58.3%) are related to suicide risk. A minority indicated they "strongly"/"extremely" believe that LMSC will yield changes in storage practices (30.9%) and decreases in suicide risk (29.9%). Across patient scenarios, most indicated that "most of the time"/"always" they assess for firearm access (74.5%-99.5%) and provide LMSC (57.8%-95.6%). About half (52.5%) reported having distributed cable locks. Most (59.3%) indicated they are somewhat interested/very interested in receiving additional training on LMSC. MHPs, compared with BHTs, were significantly more likely to report believing a link between firearm ownership and storage practices and suicide risk, believing LMSC is effective at reducing suicide risk, providing LMSC to female patients and patients with current suicidal ideation, and having distributed cable locks. Findings suggest that there is not widespread agreement among USAF MHPs and BHTs that personal firearm ownership and nonsecure storage practices are associated with elevated suicide risk, and there were low levels of confidence in the effectiveness of LMSC. Yet, most USAF MHPs and BHTs reported they integrate firearm access assessment and LMSC as part of their routine clinical care, particularly for patients with identified suicide risk. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).