Spotting and understanding suicidal thoughts in preteens
Towards a reliable and valid assessment of preteen suicidal thoughts and behavior
This project will try out several ways—questions for kids and parents, clinician interviews, a quick reaction test, a death-understanding interview, and observations—to find and understand suicidal thoughts and actions in preteens receiving intensive psychiatric care.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brown University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11398922 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your child joins, researchers will collect information from both the child and a caregiver using questionnaires and clinician interviews, give a computerized implicit association task, conduct a short interview about how the child understands death, and observe behavior during visits. The team will recruit about 360 children and their caregivers from intensive psychiatric programs (inpatient or partial hospitalization) at Brown/Bradley Hospital and Johns Hopkins. They will compare the new combination of measures to each other now and see which ones predict future suicidal thoughts or behavior. The goal is to refine a reliable and thorough way to recognize STB in this age group so clinicians can respond earlier and more appropriately.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Preteens (around ages 10–12) who are receiving intensive psychiatric services (inpatient or partial hospitalization) and their caregivers, across a range of emotional and behavioral symptoms and any level of suicidal thoughts or behaviors, are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: Children outside the preteen age range, those not in intensive psychiatric care, or those with severe cognitive or language difficulties that prevent completing interviews or tasks may not benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help clinicians detect and predict suicidal thoughts and behavior in preteens more accurately, enabling earlier and better-targeted help.
How similar studies have performed: Some parts of this approach, like clinician interviews and self-reports, are commonly used, but combining them with implicit tests and death-understanding interviews specifically for preteens is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Providence, United States
- Brown University — Providence, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Spirito, Anthony — Brown University
- Study coordinator: Spirito, Anthony
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.