(PS13-10) Navigating Recovery: The Impact of Negative Life Events and Self-understanding

Research has consistently demonstrated that adverse life events and stressors increase the risk of suicide. While identifying specific risk factors is beneficial for preventative measures, there is a pressing need for more research on recovery post-suicide-attempt, especially considering that previous suicide attempts greatly elevate the risk of attempts in the future. The personal recovery model views recovery as the focus on making meaning in one's life by implementing positive behavioral changes and enhancing self-understanding to cope with mental health challenges. The following study uses a cross-sectional analysis to assess whether negative life events for those with a history of suicide are moderated by self-understanding and can thus predict future suicidality. Participants above eighteen years of age, of any gender, sex, or racial demographic were gathered ( n = 300 ) via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Half of the participants ( n = 150  ) were selected to have an increased proportion of suicidal history than the general population to increase variability in the desired variables within the subject pool. Participants completed the Life Events Assessment (LEA) and the Recovery Evaluation and Suicide Support Tool (RESST). The LEA was modified to focus primarily on negative life events within the last year. The RESST is a comprehensive assessment of an individual's recovery designed to gauge positive factors contributing to mental health. RESST encompasses aspects of self-worth, life-worth, social worth, and self-understanding. Our analysis focuses on the Sense of Self-Understanding subscale. The moderation analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between negative life events and self-perceived future suicide attempts ( β = 0.03, p = 0.0108, SE = 0.01 ), and that such a relationship is moderated by level of  self-understanding ( β = 0.04, p = 0.0191, SE = 0.02 ). In other words, the effect of negative life events is moderated by one's level of self-understanding, such that lower levels of self-understanding are associated with increased risk of future suicide attempts and higher levels are associated decreased risk of future attempts. The results indicate that negative life events increase the perception that a future suicide attempt is likely, particularly if there is a lack of self-understanding. Understanding how negative life events effect those who have attempted suicide as compared to those who have not has the potential to guide treatment decisions for clinicians. Self-understanding as a moderating variable indicates that interventions aimed at increasing self-understanding in the face of negative life events will help decrease individuals' perception that they are likely to attempt suicide in the future.