Suicide Risk Factors among Military Personnel: A Meta-Analytic Approach

Background: Suicide among military personnel is a critical issue that threatens both individual well-being and organizational readiness. Despite a growing body of literature on military suicide in Korea findings remain inconsistent owing to differences in study design, participant characteristics, and measurement tools.Methods: This meta-analysis examined risk factors for suicide among Korean military personnel. Twenty-nine theses and journal articles published between 2000 and 2025 that reported correlation coefficients (r) and met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. Sixty-two variables reported in at least three studies were extracted and categorized into 11 factors depression, trauma experience, military stress, interpersonal relationships, anxiety, general stress, job stress, impulsivity, drinking problems, age, and rank.Results: Depression, trauma experience, and military stress showed medium- to- large effect sizes, whereas impulsivity and drinking problems demonstrated small but significant effects. High heterogeneity was observed, likely because of differences in military ranks, research designs, and measurement instruments. Publication bias analysis using the trim-and-fill method revealed no missing studies.Conclusions: This meta-analysis integrated existing findings on suicide risk factors among Korean soldiers and identified the relative importance of key predictors. The results contribute to a better understanding of the psychological and organizational determinants of military suicide and provide practical implications for prevention strategies and future research.