Understanding suicidal crises in borderline personality disorder
Official title: Psychobiology of Suicidal Behavior in Borderline Personality Disorder
Funded at University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh · NIH-11266150 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project aims to better predict and prevent suicidal thoughts and attempts in people with borderline personality disorder using long-term follow-up, daily symptom tracking, and decision-making tests.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 1992 |
| Project end | January 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $759,725 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH048463-32 |
| Project ID | NIH-11266150 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, especially those with a history of suicidal thoughts or prior suicide attempts, are the most likely candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without BPD, those with no history of suicidal ideation or attempts, or individuals unwilling to complete frequent monitoring and periodic clinic visits are unlikely to benefit directly.
What this research studies
You would be part of a long-term group of people with BPD who are followed over years to see how life events and mood changes lead to suicidal thoughts or attempts. The team gathers daily reports of mood and stress to find short-term warning signs and runs brief lab tasks to study how decision-making and problem-solving break down in a crisis. They combine years of outcomes, hours-to-days monitoring, and minute-long experimental tasks to build personalized risk profiles. The researchers aim to link specific interpersonal triggers and psychological patterns to moments when suicidal behavior becomes more likely.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help clinicians spot high-risk moments sooner and tailor interventions to prevent suicide attempts.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies, including this group's prior work, have shown links between interpersonal stress, rapid mood shifts, and suicidal thoughts, but reliable short-term prediction and neurocomputational models of crisis behavior remain an active and developing area.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dombrovski, Alexandre Y. — University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh
- Study coordinator: Dombrovski, Alexandre Y.
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Understanding how early life patterns lead to Borderline Personality Disorder later on
This research looks at how children with emotional and social difficulties may develop Borderline Personality Disorder as they grow into young adults.
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Mindfulness Neurofeedback to Enhance Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder
This project explores if a special brain training called mindfulness neurofeedback can make Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) even more helpful for adults with Borderline Personality Disorder.
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Long-term outcomes after MBT for borderline personality disorder
This long-term follow-up checks how people with borderline personality disorder who received MBT in the past are doing more than 10 years later and whether the two MBT formats differ in long-term outcomes.
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See if Borderline Personality Disorder can be viewed as a Relationship-Use Disorder
Researchers are testing whether BPD symptoms reflect an addiction-like reliance on interpersonal relationships, compared with bipolar disorder and healthy controls.
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rTMS (noninvasive brain stimulation) for borderline personality disorder
This project will try rTMS brain stimulation to see if it reduces symptoms in adults with borderline personality disorder.
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Evaluating a new treatment approach for borderline personality disorder
This study is testing a new personalized treatment for borderline personality disorder to see if it works better than the standard approach.
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.