Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded Massachusetts General Hospital a $197,578 Project Grant (K23 award) effective June 1, 2026 through May 31, 2031 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242). This intensive longitudinal research study investigates sleep and circadian rhythm irregularities as short-term risk factors for adolescent suicide. The research will recruit 100 hospitalized adolescents with suicidal thoughts and behaviors, utilizing objective measurement technologies including wrist actigraphy to monitor sleep metrics and continuous urine sampling to assess circadian timing via 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (AMT6s). Participants will complete ecological momentary assessments of suicidal ideation during hospitalization and at 1 and 3 months post-discharge, a critical period of heightened suicide risk.

The study will produce empirical evidence on whether night-to-night sleep variations predict next-day suicidal ideation during hospitalization and subsequent suicidal thoughts and behaviors after discharge, and whether later circadian timing is associated with elevated suicide risk. This research addresses documented gaps in understanding dynamic, short-term mechanisms linking sleep and circadian system changes—which undergo marked shifts during adolescence—to suicide risk, moving beyond reliance on retrospective self-report and static risk factors. Expected research products include peer-reviewed publications, mechanistic insights into the relationship between sleep irregularities and suicide risk in adolescents, and potential identification of modifiable targets for suicide prevention interventions.