3 - (SYM 29) Bidirectional Associations Between Interpersonal Conflict, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Suicidal Ideation: An EMA Study of Stress Exposure and Generation

The role of social and interpersonal factors in suicide risk dates back to Durkheim’s social integration theory. Recent methodological advancements (e.g., EMA) have allowed researchers to examine near-term associations between interpersonal stress and suicidal ideation. Emerging research (e.g., Glenn et al., 2022; Kaurin et al., 2022) demonstrates the proximal impact of negative interpersonal events on subsequent suicidal ideation (i.e., stress exposure), yet little research has examined the proximal impact of suicidal ideation on negative interpersonal events (i.e., stress generation). Nevertheless, recent work has shown that longitudinal pathways between suicidal ideation and interpersonal stress can go in both directions (Uliaszek et al., 2023), underscoring the need to better understand the near-term consequences of suicidal thoughts. The goal of the present study is to model the near-term bidirectional associations between interpersonal conflict events, perceived burdensomeness, and suicidal ideation. Emerging adults ages 18-25 (N=106; cisgender women = 67.9%, White =73.5%) were recruited following an ED visit for an EMA study that spanned two months. Out of 3,797 daily-level observations, 684 (~18%) captured instances of interpersonal conflict and 974 (~26%) captured instances of suicidal ideation. A series of multilevel models were conducted: (1) two models examining the bi-directional, prospective, relationship between interpersonal conflict (as predictor and then as outcome) and suicidal ideation, and (2) two models examining the bi-directional, prospective, relationship between interpersonal conflict (as predictor and then as outcome) and perceived burdensomeness. Preliminary findings show that previous day interpersonal conflict did not predict next-day ideation levels (after accounting for previous-day ideation), but previous day ideation levels predicted next-day interpersonal conflict (after accounting for previous-day conflict; B = 0.02, SE = 0.01, p = .035). Further, previous day burdensomeness predicted next day interpersonal conflict (after accounting for previous-day conflict; B = 0.03, SE = 0.01, p < .000) while previous day interpersonal conflict did not predict next-day burdensomeness (after accounting for previous day burdensomeness). Thus, perceived burdensomeness and suicidal ideation appear to increase the likelihood for next-day negative interpersonal conflicts, yet interpersonal conflicts did not predict next-day ideation or burdensomeness in our study.