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ViewAttendees 2

Symposia

Child / Adolescent - Depression

Linking Contemporary Stressors of Adolescence and Young Adulthood to Emotional Health to Inform Cognitive-Behavioral Targets for Prevention and Intervention

3 - (SYM 14) Social Neural Systems and Emotional Responses to Everyday Social Threat Experiences Influence Suicidal Thoughts in High-risk Sexual and Gender Minority Young Adults

Friday, November 15, 2024
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EST
Location: Regency Ballroom C2, Second Floor Mezzanine, Loews Hotel
Abstract Body

Background: Young adults are contemplating suicide at crisis levels, particularly among sexual and gender minorities (SGM). The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide posits that distal factors, including sensitivity in social neural systems, interact with proximal factors (e.g., social threat experiences) to influence suicidal thoughts (ST). Everyday social threat events, such as exclusion, rejection, and victimization, are often proximally linked with ST, and particularly salient for SGM due to bias and discrimination. However, differences in sensitivity of neural social systems may influence how individuals react to these events. We examined this research question using neuroimaging and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data in a predominately SGM sample.

Methods: 39 young adults (age: M=23.5 years; SD=3.1yrs; 79% SGM) with recurrent ST and lifetime history of suicidal behavior completed EMA surveys on social threat events, negative affect, and ST (3x/day in 1-week bursts/month for six-months), as well as a personalized fMRI task of viewing 20-s video clips from discussions about positive or neutral events with a close friend or an unfamiliar age/gender-matched peer. fMRI data were preprocessed in fMRIprep and SPM12 was used to examine task-related activation in neural social regions (pFWE< 0.05). Neural activity and EMA variables were entered into cross-validated elastic net regression models to predict ST intensity, which allows examination of a large number of predictors while controlling for multicollinearity. GLMNET, for variable selection, and post-hoc tests were completed in R.

Results: Higher left caudate response to positive (vs. neutral) friend interactions, in combination with negative emotional responses to daily-life social threat events, predicted higher ST intensity (R2=0.29). A separate model examining neural activity to positive interactions with familiar vs. unfamiliar peer indicated that it was not associated with ST intensity, although negative emotional responses to social threat remained significant predictors (R2=0.12).

Conclusion: Everyday experiences of and negative responses to social threat events are associated with greater severity of ST, consistent with prior research. Altered neural response to social reward, particularly in the context of peer relationships, may exacerbate severity of ST. Findings contribute to understanding of potential mechanisms underlying SGM health disparities.

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