Mentalization and Social Cognition in Adolescents After Suicide Attempt

NCT07688798 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 2 other identifiers: APHP2518912025-A02756-43
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 82
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study investigates the risk of violent suicide attempts in adolescents, with a particular focus on social cognition and sleep disturbances, to better understand the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms involved and to inform more targeted prevention strategies. Violent suicide attempts are defined as the use of methods with a high immediate lethal potential. They are associated with distinct clinical profiles and specific risk factors, including an increased risk of recurrence and completed suicide. Although the association between suicidal behavior and psychiatric disorders is well established, evidence regarding the underlying neurocognitive factors remains inconsistent. In particular, little is known about the role of social cognition in suicidal risk among adolescents. Research in this area is limited, leaving an important gap in our understanding of the cognitive processes that may contribute to the emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors during adolescence. In addition, studies conducted in community-based adolescent cohorts have shown that insufficient sleep duration is independently associated with increased suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior, even after accounting for depressive symptoms.

Conditions

Violent Suicide Attempts in Adolescents

Keywords

Violent suicide attempts; Teenagers; Social cognition; Sleep Disturbance

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Level of performance in social cognition in the two groups of adolescents hospitalized following a suicide attempt, distinguishing: adolescents who made a violent suicide attempt and those who made a non-violent suicide attempt

  Social cognition will be assessed using three subtests from the Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition (ClaCoS) battery. The PERSO task evaluates social reasoning through the interpretation of social situations and yields a total score based on the number of correct responses. The MASC (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) assesses theory of mind using a video-based task and provides a total score corresponding to the number of correctly inferred mental states. The AIHQ assesses attributional biases in ambiguous social situations and generates scores reflecting hostile and intentionality attribution biases. For all three measures, scores will be analysed as continuous variables, with higher scores indicating better social cognitive performance (PERSO, MASC) or stronger attributional biases (AIHQ).

  1 day

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Severity of suicidal intention

  1 day

• Level of socio-economic precariousness

  1 day

• Level of anxiety

  1 day

• Level of depressive disorder

  1 day

• Evaluation of attachment styles

  1 day

Study Arms (2)

Adolescents who have attempted violent suicide

EXPERIMENTAL

Adolescents aged 12 to 16 inclusive who have attempted violent suicide and are hospitalized at Necker Children's Hospital : * Hospitalization lasting more than 24 hours. * One criterion among: treatment in a specialized department, surgery under general anesthesia, intensive medical treatment, attempted suicide by methods involving a high risk of mortality (hanging, firearm, etc.). And their parents.

Other: Test; Other: Questionnaires

Adolescents who have attempted nonviolent suicide

EXPERIMENTAL

Adolescents aged 12 to 16 inclusive who have attempted non-violent suicide (low or moderate lethality means) and are hospitalized at Necker Children's Hospital and matched with adolescents who have attempted violent suicide according to three control variables: gender, main psychiatric diagnosis, and socio-economic precariousness (binary score from a validated scale). And their parents.

Other: Test; Other: Questionnaires

Interventions

Test OTHER

Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition, including : * PERSO: measurement of social reasoning, through the analysis and interpretation of social situations, the understanding of the emotions and intentions of others, as well as the adaptation of responses to the relational context; * Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC): video task measuring understanding of the mental states, intentions and emotions of others (theory of mind), * Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ): measurement of attribution biases and hostile interpretations in social interactions.

Adolescents who have attempted nonviolent suicide; Adolescents who have attempted violent suicide

Questionnaires OTHER

To explore the associations between performance on the most discriminative social cognition measures (derived from the Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition \[ClaCoS\] battery) and several secondary variables that may influence socio-cognitive functioning or the characteristics of the suicide attempt, including: * Suicidal intent, assessed using the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) * Anxiety symptoms, assessed using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) * Depressive symptoms, assessed using the Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) module of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) * Socioeconomic vulnerability, assessed using the EPICES deprivation score * Attachment styles, assessed using the Adolescent Relationship Scale Questionnaire (ARSQ) * Sleep characteristics, assessed using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and the Disturbing Dreams and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI) * Everyday social cognition skills, assessed us

Adolescents who have attempted nonviolent suicide; Adolescents who have attempted violent suicide

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 12 Years - 16 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Adolescents aged 12 to 16 years, inclusive
• Having made a violent or non-violent suicide attempt
• Hospitalized in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Necker Children's Hospital
• No intellectual disability (IQ \> 70)
• Sufficient proficiency in French to complete the study assessments; at least one parent or legal guardian must also have sufficient proficiency in French
• Written informed consent obtained from the holders of parental authority and assent obtained from the adolescent
• Covered by a health insurance scheme

You may not qualify if:

• Current psychotic disorder or documented history of a psychotic disorder
• Current manic or hypomanic episode
• Severe neurological or medical condition likely to significantly affect cognitive performance
• Moderate-to-severe substance use disorder requiring specialized treatment
• Acute intoxication or withdrawal state at the time of assessment- Written informed consent obtained from parents or legal guardians and assent obtained from the adolescent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris: lead
• URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades

Paris, 75015, France

Location

Related Publications (33)

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Parasomnias

Interventions

Surveys and Questionnaires

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Sleep Wake Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• Catherine Grosmaitre, PhD

  Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Pauline MD, PhD Chaste

  Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Central Study Contacts

Catherine Grosmaitre, PhD

CONTACT

033144494561; catherine.grosmaitre@aphp.fr

Hélène Morel

CONTACT

helene.morel@aphp.fr

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: DIAGNOSTIC
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 22, 2026
• First Posted: July 7, 2026
• Study Start: July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2028
• Last Updated: July 7, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FR (1)