Category: Suicide and Self-Injury
Jiyoung Song, PhD
PhD Student
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Allison Harvey, Ph.D.
Professor
University of California, Berkeley
BERKELEY, California
Amy Brausch, Ph.D.
Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Shruti S. Kinkel-Ram, M.A.
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Jiyoung Song, PhD
PhD Student
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Anthony Reffi, Ph.D.
Henry Ford Health System
Novi, Michigan
Suicide is a serious global health issue. More than 700,000 people die by suicide each year. In the United States, suicide is a leading cause of death, and suicide rates have increased by 33 percent in the past 20 years. Given that suicidal ideation is highly predictive of injury, hospitalization, loss of liberty, and suicidal deaths, suicidal ideation in both clinical and nonclinical populations warrants close attention.
Previous studies have suggested that sleep disturbances pose significant risk factors for suicidal ideation and behaviors. Global insomnia, hypersomnia, poor sleep quality, and frequent nightmares all have been implicated as potential risk factors for suicidal ideation. Yet, the exact mechanism underlying this relationship has yet to be elucidated. The purpose of this symposium is to present longitudinal, multi-method research, conducted in diverse populations, to better understand the role of poor sleep in exacerbating suicidal ideation. Understanding how sleep impacts suicidal ideation is important for informing the development of sleep interventions for suicide prevention.
Speaker 1 will present research on the mediating role of emotion regulation difficulties in the relationship between insomnia symptoms and suicidal ideation in a sample of adolescents. Speaker 2 will discuss how discriminatory experiences could increase risk for suicidal ideation not only directly but also via stress-induced sleep problems. The results from a sample of Black Americans supported the hypothesized indirect effects of discrimination on suicidal ideation through sleep problems. Speaker 3 will demonstrate how loneliness can partially explain the relationship between sleep and suicidal ideation using intensive longitudinal data obtained from ecological momentary assessments. Speaker 4 will share novel findings on the development of nightmares, fear of sleep, and suicidal ideation among patients who recently experienced traumatic injuries. A leader in the study of sleep science and treatment development will serve as discussant.
Presenter: Amy M. Brausch, Ph.D. – Western Kentucky University
Presenter: Shruti S. S. Kinkel-Ram, M.A. – Miami University
Co-author: Jonathan Kunstman, Ph.D. – Auburn University
Co-author: April Smith, Ph.D. – Auburn University
Presenter: Jiyoung Song, PhD – University of California, Berkeley
Co-author: Bertus Jeronimus, Ph.D. – University of Groningen
Co-author: Aaron J. Fisher, Ph.D. – University of California, Berkeley
Presenter: Anthony N. Reffi, Ph.D. – Henry Ford Health System