Project Summary

Amy Wenzel, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of the University of Pennsylvania , seeks to better identify risk factors for suicide. Psychological vulnerabilities such as impulsivity, hopelessness, and cognitive distortions have been demonstrated to predict suicide behavior beyond psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses. However, these psychological variables in predicting suicide are limited because most studies rely on self-report assessment, which is often unreliable. Thus, the goals of this study are twofold: (1) to develop and/or adapt experimental approaches to measuring impulsivity and suicide-relevant cognitive biases in suicide attempters, and (2) to demonstrate that suicide attempters exhibit impulsivity and suicide-relevant cognitive biases to a greater degree than a matched sample of nonattempters. Fifty suicide attempters and 50 nonattempters will be recruited from emergency-room admissions. Within seven days of their admissions, the attempters and nonattempters will complete measures of impulsivity, suicide-relevant implicit associations, and hopeless interpretation biases. It is predicted that suicide attempters will exhibit higher levels of impulsivity, stronger suicide-relevant implicit associations and more hopeless interpretation biases than nonattempters. Results will be used to construct a cognitive behavioral model of suicide attempts and will inform the development of refined techniques to modify these specific psychological vulnerabilities in suicide attempters.

Program Area: MOOD DISORDERS\Bipolar\Suicide

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