Project Grant F31MH143426

PREDICTING RISK IN SOCIALLY MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS (PRISM) - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT SUICIDE IS A LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE UNITED STATES, AND RATES ARE PARTICULARLY HIGH IN COLLEGE STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUNG ADULTS WITH SOCIAL IDENTITIES PRONE TO EXCLUSION BASED ON WHO THEY LOVE (E.G., SEXUALLY DIVERSE [SD] POPULATIONS). DESPITE SOCIAL AND LEGAL ADVANCES AMONG SD POPULATIONS OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, SUICIDE RISK HAS INCREASED IN YOUNGER AGE COHORTS COMPARED TO OLDER COHORTS OF SD INDIVIDUALS. CONSISTENT WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH (NIH) FUNDING PRIORITIES AND WHITE HOUSE REPORT ON MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH PRIORITIES, SD MENTAL HEALTH, ESPECIALLY AS IT PERTAINS TO SUICIDE, IS AN URGENT PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN AND REQUIRES PRIORITY IN RESEARCH AND FUNDING. YET EMPIRICAL EXAMINATION OF SUICIDE RISK WITHIN SD POPULATIONS LAGS BEHIND MAJORITY IDENTITIES, WITH FEW STUDIES ELUCIDATING NEAR-TERM LONGITUDINAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN SD STRESSORS (E.G., DAILY DISCRIMINATION, MEDIA EXPOSURE, INTERNALIZED STIGMA, ETC.) AND SUICIDE RISK. DESPITE WELL-ARTICULATED THEORETICAL MODELS OF SUICIDE RISK, THAT IDENTIFY BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS FOR SUICIDE, RESEARCH HAS NOT YET RIGOROUSLY EXAMINED THE UTILITY OF SUCH MODELS IN SD POPULATIONS. TAKEN TOGETHER, IDENTIFYING THEORY-DRIVEN VULNERABILITY FACTORS, PASSIVE SENSING INDICATORS, AND THE UNIQUE CONTEXTS IN WHICH THESE PHENOMENA UNFOLD MAY RESULT IN A FLEXIBLE, CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE, MULTIMODAL RISK DETECTION ALGORITHM TO REDUCE SUICIDE DISPARITIES IN SD POPULATIONS. THESE RISK DETECTION EFFORTS WILL IDENTIFY VIABLE TARGETS FOR LIFE-SAVING INTERVENTIONS FOR SUICIDE IN POPULATION DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED. THIS STUDY ADDRESSES A SIGNIFICANT KNOWLEDGE GAP BY USING AN ECOLOGICAL MOMENTARY ASSESSMENT (EMA) AND PASSIVE SENSING APPROACHES AMONG N=60 SD COLLEGE STUDENTS (N=30 WITH ELEVATED SUICIDE RISK) AND N=60 HETEROSEXUAL COLLEGE STUDENTS (N=30 WITH ELEVATED SUICIDE RISK). NAMELY, THIS PROJECT WILL USE A NOVEL EMA DESIGN TO EXAMINE THE UNIQUE INFLUENCE OF SD STRESS CONTEXTS AND AFFECTIVE, BEHAVIORAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ON SAME DAY AND NEXT DAY SUICIDE RISK. THIS PROJECT IS SIGNIFICANT IN IDENTIFYING PROXIMAL PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS FOR SUICIDE TO ADVANCE INTERVENTION EFFORTS AMONG HIGH-RISK SD POPULATIONS. IT IS TECHNICALLY AND THEORETICALLY INNOVATIVE IN INTEGRATING EMA AND PASSIVE SENSING METHODOLOGY WITH ADVANCED QUANTITATIVE METHODS TO ESTABLISH THE CONTEXT-DEPENDENT NATURE OF DAILY RELATIONS AMONG SD STRESSORS AND BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS FOR SUICIDE. THE GOAL OF THIS F31 IS TO TRAIN THE APPLICANT FOR SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT RESEARCH USING INTENSIVE LONGITUDINAL DESIGNS TO EXAMINE DAY-TO-DAY ASSOCIATIONS OF AFFECT, BEHAVIOR, AND COGNITION IN THE CONTEXT OF SD STRESSORS IN RELATION TO PROXIMAL SUICIDE RISK, WITH THE OVERARCHING AIM OF INFORMING MECHANISTICALLY DRIVEN JUST-IN- TIME INTERVENTIONS. THUS, THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE THE APPLICANT IMPERATIVE TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE IN INTENSIVE LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT, MACHINE LEARNING, SD POPULATIONS, GRANTSMANSHIP, NETWORKING, MENTORING, AND ETHICS. THE RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST, ALONG WITH WORLD-CLASS SPONSORS AND CONSULTANTS, PROVIDE THE IDEAL SETTING AND MENTORSHIP TO SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCT THE PROPOSED PROJECT.