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Evaluation ViewAttendees 5

Suicide and Self-Injury
Symposia

Symposium 19 - Computational and Performance-Based Methods for Understanding Suicide and Self-Injury in Interpersonal Contexts

Friday, November 15, 2024
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Location: Grand Ballroom F, Level 5, Downtown Marriott
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Suicide, Self-Injury, Risk / Vulnerability Factors
Level of Familiarity: All
Recommended Readings: King, C. A., & Merchant, C. R. (2008). Social and interpersonal factors relating to adolescent suicidality: A review of the literature. Archives of suicide research, 12(3), 181-196.,  



Nock, M. K., & Banaji, M. R. (2007). Prediction of suicide ideation and attempts among adolescents using a brief performance-based test. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(5), 707–715.



,   Joiner, T. E., Ribeiro, J. D., & Silva, C. (2012). Nonsuicidal self-injury, suicidal behavior, and their co-occurrence as viewed through the lens of the interpersonal theory of suicide. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(5), 342-347.,   ,  

The study of suicide and self-injury has typically examined intraindividual (i.e., individual-specific) factors, even though self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) have long been linked to adverse interpersonal factors like rejection and interpersonal conflict (King & Merchant, 2008; Prinstein et al., 2009). Leading suicide theories emphasize interpersonal risk factors (e.g. Joiner, 2005), but these remain largely untested beyond cross-sectional examinations using largely self-report data. Research on nonsuicidal self-injury is characterized by similar limitations. An alternative approach is to use objective methods to examine how specific aspects of an individual’s relationships, interpersonal interactions, or sensitivity to interpersonal stressors relate to SITB risk. This symposium highlights novel work on SITBs that has leveraged computational modeling, performance-based research paradigms, and other objective measures (e.g., neuroimaging, hormonal salivary assays) to examine specific characteristics of interpersonal relationships and interpersonal functioning across behavioral, affective, and neurobiological units of analysis. Importantly, talks examine these factors as both correlates as well as risk factors for future SITBs. First, Ilana Gratch and Azure Reid-Russell leverage computational approaches to examine nonverbal behavior and body physiology assessed in interpersonal contexts, in relation to STBs. Gratch uses machine learning to characterize facial action and head motion velocity exhibited by young adults and their clinical interviewers during a suicide assessment and tests whether these nonverbal behaviors predict risk. Given the importance of language in interpersonal communication, Reid-Russell uses natural language processing to examine how suicidal individuals’ describe their interoceptive experiences. Next, Olivia Pollak and Sam Wert examine an objective measure capturing multiple facets of parent-child relationships, assessed using a performance-based lab paradigm, in relation to both suicidal (Pollak) and nonsuicidal (Wert) self-injurious outcomes. Both talks examine multiple facets of parent-child dynamics derived from an objectively coded parent speech sample, and test differential relations with distinct types of self-injurious thoughts or behaviors, including prospectively (Pollak). Finally, Emily Hutchison will present on neurobiological (i.e., neural, hormonal) and behavioral indices of interpersonal functioning in relation to suicidal ideation risk. She combines a performance-based fMRI task and ecological momentary assessment to examine neural responses to simulated social rejection and real-world social behaviors as predictors of suicidal thoughts, as well as the role of pubertal status in risk for suicidal thinking assessed longitudinally over three-year follow-up. We are thrilled to have Shirley Wang as Discussant, who not only brings expertise in SITBs but is also a rising star in the application of computational approaches to the study of SITBs. Collectively, this symposium features recent research from leading labs studying SITBs. Direct implications of findings for assessment and treatment of SITBs will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Explain two advantages of the use of objective methods to examine interpersonal factors and processes related to suicide and self-injury risk.
  2. Describe three computational approaches used to research suicidal thoughts and behaviors in interpersonal contexts.
  3. Describe a performance based-task used to research interpersonal risk factors for self-injurious thoughts and behaviors.
  4. Explain three ways that recent empirical findings can help improve assessment of suicide risk across the lifespan.
  5. Describe verbal and nonverbal indicators of increased suicide and self-injury risk across three interpersonal contexts.

Presentations:

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 19) Nonverbal Behaviors Exhibited During Suicide Assessments Predict Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors: A Machine Learning-based Approach

    Speaker: Ilana Gratch, M.S. – Columbia University

    Co-author: Jeffrey Cohn, phD – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Yutong Zhu, B.S. – Columbia University

    Co-author: Simon M. Li, M.A. – Columbia University

    Co-author: Alex Grattery, BA – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Christine Cha, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Teachers College, Columbia University

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 19) Text Descriptions and Appraisals of Body Sensations and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

    Speaker: Azure Reid-Russell, M.A. (she/her/hers) – Harvard University

    Co-Author: Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Harvard University

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 19) Examining Associations Between Multiple Facets of Parental Expressed Emotion and Youth Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Using a Performance-based Measure

    Speaker: Olivia Pollak, M.A. – UNC Chapel Hill

    Co-author: Jillian Dodson, B.A. – University of Tennessee - Knoxville

    Co-author: Matteo Giletta, PhD (he/him/his) – Ghent University

    Co-author: Karen Rudolph, PhD – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Co-author: Paul Hastings, PhD – University of California, Davis

    Co-author: George Slavich, PhD – University of California Los Angeles

    Co-author: Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Harvard University

    Co-author: Adam Bryant Miller, PhD – RTI International

    Co-author: Mitch J. Prinstein, ABPP, Ph.D. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 19) Positive and Negative Remarks from Mothers and Daughters About Each Other: The Role of Adolescent Non-suicidal Self-injury

    Speaker: Samantha E. Wert, B.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Kiera James, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Brandon Gibb, Ph.D. – Binghamton University

    Co-author: Cecile Ladouceur, Ph.D. – University of Pittsburgh, Department Of Psychiatry

    Co-author: Jennifer S. Silk, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
    (SYM 19) Neurobiological Processes Underlying Daily Social Approach-avoidance Behavior and Suicidal Thoughts Among Adolescent Females

    Speaker: Emily Hutchinson, M.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Emily Hutchinson, M.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Jennifer S. Silk, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Pittsburgh

    Co-author: Jamie Hanson, Ph.D. – University of Pittsburgh, Department Of Psychology

    Co-author: Cecile Ladouceur, Ph.D. – University of Pittsburgh, Department Of Psychiatry