The association between baseline insomnia symptoms and future suicide attempts within an intensive outpatient treatment program for suicide

Demystifying treatment disposition patterns for psychiatrically high-risk youth referred for intensive outpatient psychiatric services: The role of demographics and telehealth

Intensive outpatient (IOP) psychiatric treatment is increasingly deployed to meet the needs of psychiatrically high-risk youth; however, documentation of treatment disposition for in-person and/or telehealth modalities following treatment referral is largely unknown. The current study examined psychiatrically high-risk youth baseline treatment disposition patterns and explored variations according to treatment modality (telehealth vs. in-person). Using archival records of 744 adolescents (Mage = 14.91, SD = 1.60) admitted to a psychiatric IOP, multinomial logistic regressions revealed that commercially insured youth fared better than non-commercially insured youth with respect to treatment completion. When treatment modality was accounted for, youth treated on telehealth were no more likely to be psychiatrically hospitalized compared to youth treated with in-person services. However, youth treated on telehealth dropped out due to excessive absences or withdrawal/refusal to a greater extent than those treated in person. Future studies should examine clinical outcomes in addition to treatment disposition patterns to further understand youth's course of treatment at intermediate level of care settings (e.g., IOP).

Clinical correlates and prognostic implications of severe suicidal ideation in major depressive disorder

Suicidal ideation (SI) is a risk factor for suicidal behaviour. To ascertain the clinical correlates and prognostic impact of severe SI, we analysed 249 outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicidal thoughts included in the COmbining Medications to Enhance Depression outcome (CO-MED) trial. Patients with severe SI (36%) were younger at disease onset (P = 0.0033), more severely depressed (P = 0.0029), had more lifetime suicidal behaviour (P < 0.0001) and psychiatric comorbidities (panic disorder: P = 0.0025; post-traumatic stress disorder: P = 0.0216), and a history of childhood maltreatment (neglect: P = 0.0054; emotional abuse: P = 0.0230; physical abuse: P = 0.0076; sexual abuse: P = 0.0016) than those experiencing low-moderate SI. After controlling for depression score, severe SI was positively correlated with lifetime suicidal behaviour (OR [95% CI]: 1.26 [1.12-1.41]), panic disorder (1.05 [1.00-1.12]), and childhood maltreatment (neglect: 1.93 [1.13-3.30]; physical abuse: 2.00 [1.11-3.69]; sexual abuse: 2.13 [1.17-3.88]), and inversely correlated with age of onset (0.97 [0.95-0.99]) and sleep-onset insomnia (0.76 [0.61-0.96]). Finally, the occurrence of serious lifetime suicidal behaviour was predicted by SI severity (2.18 [1.11-4.27]), bipolar score (1.36 [1.02-1.81]), and childhood sexual abuse (2.35 [1.09-5.05]). These results emphasise the importance of assessing childhood maltreatment and bipolar liability in MDD to estimate suicidal behaviour risk.

Persistence of suicidal ideation within acute phase treatment of major depressive disorder: analysis of clinical predictors

Suicidal ideation (SI) is common in major depressive disorder (MDD), and it is a risk factor for suicidal behaviour. Antidepressants are effective in reducing SI, but in some subjects, SI may persist for weeks. This study aimed to disentangle the contribution of baseline clinical characteristics in SI nonremission at week 6. Research involved 198 outpatients with MDD and SI collected within the Combining Medications to Enhance Depression Outcomes trial and treated with different antidepressant combinations. Although SI decreased from baseline to week 6 ( P < 0.0001), 78 patients (39%) failed to achieve SI remission. Insomnia [OR, 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52-0.99], reduced need for sleep (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.58-0.99), self-confidence (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.82), cheerfulness (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.33-0.98), and comorbid panic disorder (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.87-0.99) at baseline were associated with lack of SI remission after controlling for baseline depression and SI scores. The combination of baseline SI and insomnia was moderately effective in predicting the lack of SI remission, with a specificity of 80% (95% CI, 72-87%) and an NPV of 68% (95% CI, 63-72%). In individuals with MDD and SI, the presence of insomnia and bipolar features should prompt a search for more effective treatment solutions in order to favour SI remission and prevent suicidal behaviour.

Persistent suicidal ideation in a large intensive outpatient adolescent population sample: A preliminary report on the role of sleep disturbance

Sleep disturbance is a unique, yet understudied, risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). The present study sought to explore the relationship between suicidal ideation (SI) and self-reported sleep disturbance in a sample of adolescents in an intensive outpatient program targeting suicidality (N = 691). Analyses conducted include paired samples t tests, multiple linear regression, and analysis of variance to examine group differences in sleep disturbance over time. Sleep disturbance and SI were associated at each timepoint, and sleep disturbance at admission predicted SI at discharge. Those with the most severe SI at discharge indicated increased sleep disturbance relative to admission, whereas those reporting no SI at discharge nearly resolved all sleep difficulties. Future studies should utilize objective sleep measures, longitudinal assessments, and include a more diverse sample to better inform the relationship of sleep and SI. These findings suggest that directly managing sleep disturbance during treatment could decrease the risk of STBs.

A Comprehensive Review of the Literature on Sleep Difficulties and Suicidality in Youth to Inform an Integrative Developmental Model and Future Directions

Purpose of Review

Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death among youth. Identification of modifiable near-term risk factors can inform suicide prevention strategies. One promising, readily assessed factor is sleep. We critically review the literature on sleep and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth.

Recent Findings

Most studies examining the youth sleep-suicidality relationship are from epidemiological samples in which both sleep problems and suicidality were assessed over variable timeframes using limited items from scales not designed to measure these constructs. Nonetheless, these data overwhelmingly support an association between suicidality and a range of sleep difficulties (e.g., insomnia, short/long sleep, weekend oversleep), above and beyond depressive symptoms. Limited studies include clinical samples or prospective designs. We review potential mechanisms and present a developmentally-informed integrative model.

Summary

Literature supports a clear association between sleep difficulties and youth suicidality. Future directions include prospective longitudinal studies and targeted prevention efforts.

Trajectories of suicidal ideation after first-episode psychosis: a growth mixture modeling approach

OBJECTIVE

The period immediately after the onset of first-episode psychosis (FEP) may present with high risk for suicidal ideation (SI) and attempts, although this risk may differ among patients. Thus, we aimed to identify trajectories of SI in a 2-years follow-up FEP cohort and to assess baseline predictors and clinical/functional evolution for each trajectory of SI.

METHODS

We included 334 FEP participants with data on SI. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify trajectories of SI. Putative sociodemographic, clinical, and cognitive predictors of the distinct trajectories were examined using multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS

We identified three distinct trajectories: Non-SI trajectory (85.53% sample), Improving SI trajectory (9.58%), and Worsening SI trajectory (6.89%). Multinomial logistic regression model revealed that greater baseline pessimistic thoughts, anhedonia, and worse perceived family environment were associated with higher baseline SI followed by an Improving trajectory. Older age, longer duration of untreated psychosis, and reduced sleep predicted Worsening SI trajectory. Regarding clinical/functional evolution, individuals within the Improving SI trajectory displayed moderate depression at baseline which ameliorated during the study period, while the Worsening SI subgroup exhibited persistent mild depressive symptoms and greater functional impairment at follow-up assessments.

CONCLUSION

Our findings delineated three distinct trajectories of SI among participants with FEP, one experiencing no SI, another in which SI might depend on acute depressive symptomatology, and a last subset where SI might be associated with mild but persistent clinical and functional impairments. These data provide insights for the early identification and tailored treatment of suicide in this at-risk population.

Sleep and suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

The current review provides a quantitative synthesis of the empirical literature on sleep disturbance as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). A systematic search of PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and the references of prior reviews resulted in 41 eligible studies included in this meta-analysis. Sleep disturbance, including insomnia, prospectively predicted STBs, yielding small-to-medium to medium effect sizes for these associations. Complicating interpretation of these findings however, is that few studies of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as none of suicide deaths, assessed short-term risk (i.e., employed follow-up assessments of under a month). Such studies are needed to evaluate current conceptualizations of sleep dysregulation as being involved in acute risk for suicidal behavior. This want of short-term risk studies also suggests that current clinical recommendations to monitor sleep as a potential warning sign of suicide risk has a relatively modest empirical basis, being largely driven by cross-sectional or retrospective research. The current review ends with recommendations for generating future research on short-term risk and greater differentiation between acute and chronic aspects of sleep disturbance, and by providing a model of how sleep disturbance may confer risk for STBs through neuroinflammatory and stress processes and associated impairments in executive control.