Ecological Sampling of Affect, Social Context and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors
For adolescents hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the transition from inpatient to the home environment is a high risk time for repeated attempts, re-hospitalization, and even death by suicide. However, most research aimed at understanding the factors that contribute to this risk is implemented retrospectively, resulting in a host of biases in reporting and preventing treatment developers from fully capitalizing on intervention efforts that could be implemented in the real world after adolescents leave inpatient.
Our research (R01MH105379, PI Nugent) used ecological sampling methods to assess adolescent affect, social experiences, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in real time over the course of 3 weeks following discharge from inpatient hospitalization. Preliminary analyses support the importance of understanding dynamic affect in the moment, with ecological momentary assessment (mEMA) reported higher negative affect, anger/irritability found to be associated with suicidal ideation and positive affect found to be protective. Nuances of this work and clinical implications for translation to just in time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) will be briefly described.
Nicole Nugent, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Nicole Nugent, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Pediatrics, and Emergency Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and is a child clinical psychologist at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. Dr. Nugent is Director of the Rhode Island Resilience Project and Associate Director of the Stress Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Institute, positions aimed at furthering the field of traumatic stress through research, training, and community outreach. Dr. Nugent serves as Director of Resilience and Psychological Services at the Hasbro Pediatric Refugee Clinic, a role that informs research efforts that permit translation to intervention across diverse populations.