1 - (SYM 100) Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors and Youths' Multimodal Emotion Responses During Parent-child Interactions

Conflict with parents exacerbates adolescents’ suicide risk (Orlins et al., 2020), while positive relationships mitigate it (Conner et al., 2016). Characterizing how adolescents with suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) respond to parent-child interactions could reveal prevention-relevant intra- (e.g., emotion dysregulation) and inter-personal processes. We examined links between adolescents’ STBs and emotion responding in a range of parent-child contexts. We expected that, above and beyond subjective responses, physiological responses would show context-specific profiles of STB-related responding (excessive reactivity to conflict, blunted response to positive interaction).
 

Adolescents (N=162, M_age=12yrs, 47% female; 60% minoritized race/ethnicity) participated with their parent (80% bio mothers). Dyads completed a physiological baseline, a reading challenge, a conflict discussion, and a fun activity discussion. Adolescents’ emotional responses were measured as self-reported positive and negative affect (PA, NA), parasympathetic (respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]), and sympathetic (pre-ejection period [PEP]; skin conductance level [SCL]). STBs were coded present if any reporter (parent, adolescent) endorsed adolescent STBs on any measure (questionnaire, interview, ecological momentary assessment).
 

We used path models to run logistic regressions predicting probability of STBs from multimodal emotional responding in each task. All three models showed a main effect of NA at baseline (βs >0.29, ps), and context-specific effects emerged for physiological responses. In the reading challenge, STBs were marginally associated with sympathetic (PEP) deactivation suggestive of low motivation (β=.22, p=.07) In the conflict discussion, STBs were associated with excessive sympathetic (PEP) activation response, but only for adolescents with low baseline arousal (i.e., excessive reactivity; β=-.30, p=.04). In the fun activity discussion, STBs were associated with sympathetic (SCL) deactivation, but only for adolescents highly aroused at baseline, (i.e., atypical disengagement; β=-.38, p=.05).
 

Taken together, adolescents with STBs showed context-specific effects of emotion dysregulation that were detectible using physiological measures. Findings have implications for understanding emotion dysregulation in STBs and will be contextualized within leading theories on the role of social relationships in the progression of suicide risk (Joiner, 2005; Klonsky & May, 2015).