Law KC, O'Connell KL, Jacobson SV, Baer MM, Baker PM, Tull MT. Influences of sleep, cortisol reactivity, and risk/reward-based decision-making on suicide.
J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2024;
85:101975. [PMID:
38870548 PMCID:
PMC11347093 DOI:
10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101975]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Poor sleep quality is a known contributor to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This study examines whether sleep quality modulates the effect of an individual's stress response and risk/reward-based decision making on suicide risk.
METHODS
Participants were 160 adults at a residential substance use treatment facility with lifetime exposure to trauma who completed a clinician-administered measure of suicide risk, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and a self-report measure of sleep. Cortisol reactivity (i.e., changes in cortisol before and after a personalized trauma script) was used to measure stress response. We used quantile regression to examine the effects of sleep, cortisol, and risk/reward decision-making on suicide risk.
RESULTS
We found poor sleep quality to be increasingly salient in individuals at greater risk for suicide than those at lower risk for suicide. Furthermore, individuals with moderate to moderate-high levels of suicide risk seem to have greater cortisol reactivity. In the low-moderate quantile, we found suicide risk to be associated with both high stress reactivity and low-risk, high-reward decision-making, as well as low stress reactivity and high-risk/low-reward decision-making.
LIMITATIONS
These findings should be interpreted considering several methodological constraints, such as the use of a pre-determined sample and instruments not tailored for our hypotheses, the MINI 'Suicide' Module's limited differentiation between suicidal ideation and behavior, and variably timed cortisol sampling.
CONCLUSIONS
Despite these limitations, the findings from this study support the use of evidence-based interventions focused on improving sleep quality and managing emotional reactivity to decrease suicide risk.
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