Short-term suicide risk after leaving a psychiatric hospital

Ecological Assessment of Proximal Risk Factors for Suicide During Care Transitions

NIH-funded research Butler Hospital (Providence, Ri) · NIH-11235871

This project will use brief interviews, phone sensors, and short daily surveys to monitor people hospitalized for suicidal thoughts or behavior and look for short-term changes that signal rising suicide risk.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionButler Hospital (Providence, Ri) NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Providence, United States)
Project IDNIH-11235871 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you join, you will complete baseline clinical interviews, lab-based behavioral tasks, and questionnaires while in the hospital. During your stay and after discharge, you'll complete short prompts on your phone and allow passive phone sensors and sleep/activity monitoring to collect data. The team will follow you for weeks after leaving the hospital to see which moment-to-moment changes in mood, thinking, social activity, and sleep come before increases in suicidal thoughts or behavior. The goal is to learn patterns that could point to times when you might need extra support.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults hospitalized for suicidal ideation or a recent suicide attempt who can use a smartphone and complete brief surveys are the ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People who were not recently hospitalized for suicide risk, cannot use or carry a smartphone, or are unable to complete brief assessments may not be eligible or benefit from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help catch rising suicide risk sooner so clinicians or support systems can intervene before a crisis.

How similar studies have performed: Related digital phenotyping studies have shown promising signals for mood and behavior changes but have not yet produced consistently reliable tools to predict suicide on their own.

Where this research is happening

Providence, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.