Social Threat, Adolescent Relationships, and Suicidality Study

NCT07294079 | Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: STUDY25050182K23MH141548
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In recent years, adolescents are having higher rates of emotional health problems, such as suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). The goal of this study is to learn about how teens' attention to different types of information relates to their real-world relationships and their emotional health. The investigators hope this study will help understand why some teens go on to have suicidal thoughts and behaviors and other teens do not. This information will help investigators learn how to improve emotional health in teens and reduce teen suicides. Participants will be 100 female adolescents (ages 12-17) at high risk for STBs who will complete a series of assessments over the course of 6 months. Assessments include a baseline clinical interview, a visit to examine neural responses during a computer tasks, daily smartphone surveys about social experiences and social connectedness, and follow up questionnaires assessing STBs. Participants will also be asked to donate their text messages during the month that they complete smartphone surveys. The research procedures will help investigators learn how adolescents react to different types of social situations. Investigators want to see if these reactions affect:

• Complete a 10-15 minute screening call to determine eligibility for the study
• Complete one 3 hour virtual (or in-person) interview consisting of a clinical assessment and questionnaires.
• Complete a 2.5-hour in person visit to complete computer tasks while record brain signals are recorded
• Complete \~5 minute smartphone surveys three times a day for 30 days, asking about their daily social experiences and their mood and feelings.
• Provide investigators with retrospective access to their text/direct messages from the month the participant was completing the smartphone surveys.
• Complete online follow-up questionnaires at 3 and 6 months

Conditions

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors; Social Connectedness; Responses to Social Threat

Keywords

Suicide Ideation; Social Threat; EEG; Adolescent; Teen

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Day-to-day social connectedness

  Participants will be asked to rate their social connectedness with their parents/caregivers and peers 3x a day for 30 days using a 0 (not connected) to 100 (very connected) point scale.

  1 month

• Suicidal thoughts and behaviors

  Participants' suicidal thoughts and behaviors will be assessed will be assessed using the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview (SITBI) and Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire-Jr (SIQ-JR). Severity of suicidal thoughts and behaviors will be operationalized as (0) absent, (1) passive SI, (2) active SI, (3) SI with a method, (4) SI with some intent, but no specific plan, (5) SI with specific plan and intent, and (6) suicide attempt(s).

  1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after the intervention as well as three and six months later

Study Arms (1)

Adolescents (12-17) with past year STBs and/or NSSI.

EXPERIMENTAL

Adolescent aged 12-17 with a past year suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and/or non-suicidal self-injury will complete an EEG task that measures their response to social threat.

Behavioral: Social threat

Interventions

Social threat BEHAVIORAL

EEG Visit: Participants will be presented with pictures of female actors with emotional expressions. They will be asked to remember the identities of actors displaying happy, sad, angry, and neutral expressions and tested on their memory. This task examines participants' internal attention to facial cues of emotion while asking them to remember the identities of actors displaying emotional expressions. EMA Over 30 days, participants will be asked to be report on their social experiences and suicidal thoughts and behaviors three times a day.

Adolescents (12-17) with past year STBs and/or NSSI.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 12 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Between ages 12-17
• Reported recurrent suicidal thoughts and behaviors and/or non-suicidal self-injury within the past year.
• Medically and neurologically healthy, including no evidence of intellectual disability or serious cognitive impairment that would interfere with task performance
• Assigned female at birth
• Willing and able to give informed assent
• Own an iPhone

You may not qualify if:

• Unable to read or speak English or cognitive impairment preventing ability to complete assessments
• Lifetime presence of a neurological or serious medical condition
• Lifetime presence of a DSM-5 Autistic Spectrum Disorder
• Current DSM-5 Psychotic Disorder or severe Substance Use Disorder
• Uncorrected visual disturbance (\<20/40 Snellen visual acuity)
• Presence of head injury or congenital neurological anomalies (based on parent report).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pittsburgh: lead
• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Kiera M James, PhD

  University of Pittsburgh

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Kiera M James, Ph.D.

CONTACT

412-634-0004; kij9@pitt.edu

Amber Pereira, M.A.

CONTACT

412-353-9329; amp702@pitt.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Assistant Professor

Model Details: All participants will be similar (12-17 with a past year suicidal thoughts and behaviors and/or non-suicidal self-injury) and will experience the same procedures.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2025
• First Posted: December 19, 2025
• Study Start: January 19, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 30, 2030
• Last Updated: February 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Scientific data will be made accessible no later than 1 year after the grant end date. Any subject level data and associated analyzed data will be shared at time of publication. No end date.
• Access Criteria: Deidentified data will be submitted to and made available on the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA). To obtain data access, researchers will follow the established procedures within NDA, and the NDA Data Access Committee will determine the approvals for these requests. Access will be given for any legitimate scientific purpose, as determined by NDA Access Committee.

Locations

US (1)