Prospective Investigation of the Interaction Between Social Problems and Neuropsychological Characteristics on the Development of Suicide Ideation

Abstract

Objective Negative social interactions are known to contribute to the development of suicide ideation. However, it is unclear how this risk factor interacts with other predisposing risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine how social and neuropsychological factors interact as a prospective predictor of the emergence of suicide ideation in adolescents. Method Data were collected from adolescents (M age = 13.12, SD = 1.48) over 3 years as part of a larger study. Participants completed the MINI‐Kid and Youth Self‐Report, which were used to assess for suicidality. Negative social interactions were operationalized as the Social Problems scale of the YSR. Additionally, adolescents completed a neuropsychological battery at each wave of data collection. Results Logistic moderation analyses demonstrated a significant interaction between task switching and endorsement of negative social interactions in the prediction of suicide ideation one year later, Wald χ2(1) = 4.94, OR = 0.90, p < .05. Distractibility was a significant predictor, Wald χ2(1) = 5.52, OR = 3.45, p < .05, but it did not demonstrate an interaction effect. Perseveration failed to reach statistical significance independently and in the interaction. Conclusions The results indicate that certain neuropsychological characteristics can aid in predicting which adolescents will develop suicide ideation in the presence of negative social interactions, which may have significant clinical implications.

Interaction of smoking and being bullied on suicidal behaviors: a school-based cross-sectional survey in China

“…Students who were from urban, senior high school students, boarding students, and whose parents’ educational level above high school degree, and those with fewer friends and lower family economy condition were likely to experience different suicidal behaviors. Taken together, the causes of suicidal behaviors were associated with multiple social ecological conditions, including biological, cognitive factors, school, and family [ 30 – 32 ].…”

The role of cognitive flexibility in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: A systematic review.

“…For example, one cross-sectional study found that WCST-PE scores were not significantly associated with current SI severity among veterans (Homaifar et al, 2016), whereas another research team found worse WCST-PE performance in depressed participants with (vs. without) current SI (Marzuk et al, 2005). In contrast, longitudinal studies report that poorer WCST-PE performance may predict more severe SI 6 months to 3 years later among undergraduate students (Miranda et al, 2012, 2013), but fail to predict SI severity in adolescents at the 1-year follow-up (McManimen & Wong, 2020). Nonetheless, poorer performance on WCST-PE may indicate general cognitive inflexibility that, when combined with other established risk factors (e.g., hopelessness), increases SI risk among undergraduates.…”

“…CWIT-4. Two studies reported that worse CWIT-4 performance predicted a greater likelihood of future SI occurrence and severity (Kasckow et al, 2016;McManimen & Wong, 2020). However, CWIT-4 performance in the absence of negative life events may have limited predictive utility.…”

Neural bases of suicidal ideation and depression in young college students

“…McManimen and Wong ( 2020 ) conducted a study to analyze the interaction of three aspects of executive functions that may have an impact on SI: cognitive flexibility, task switching, and distractibility. Cognitive rigidity has been associated with multiple adverse mental health problems, including SI (Novak et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The risk factors that influence suicidal ideation are diverse, yet little has been achieved in the effective prediction of suicide (Fazakas-DeHoog et al, 2017 ; McManimen and Wong, 2020 ; MacPherson et al, 2022b ). Recent studies have shown that patients with suicidal ideation (SI) or suicide attempt (SA) are referred to hospitals for treatment with drugs such as ketamine or clozapine as the only rehabilitation option.…”