Teen females who have more trouble efficiently resolving interpersonal
difficulties when they are under social stress, as well as those who have more interpersonal stress
in their lives, are more likely to engage in suicidal behaviour, according to a study published by
the American Psychological Association.
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens, and rates of suicidal behavior are
particularly high among girls. Previous research has found that interpersonal stressors - such as
conflict with peers, friends and family - are related to suicidal behavior. Some theories of suicidal
behavior suggest that poor social problem-solving skills may contribute to the link, possibly
because teens with poorer social problem-solving skills are more likely to see suicide as a viable
solution to their distress when they feel they've exhausted other options.
The current study aimed to test these associations by considering both experimentally simulated
and real-world measures of social stress. The research was published in the Journal of
Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
"The findings provide empirical support for cognitive and behavioral theories of suicide that
suggest that deficits in abilities to effectively manage and solve interpersonal problems may be
related to suicidal behavior," said study lead author Olivia Pollak, MA, of The University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Clinically, this is notable, as problem-solving features prominently in
several treatments for suicidal or self-harming behaviors."
Participants were 185 girls ages 12 to 17 who had experienced some mental health concerns in the
past two years. At the beginning of the study, participants completed surveys or interviews about
their mental health symptoms and suicidal behaviors. Participants also completed a task assessing
their social problem-solving skills, which involved responding to scenarios involving interpersonal
conflicts or challenges with other people, such as peers, friends, family members and romantic
partners. The teens were then asked to perform a task that has been shown in previous studies to
induce social stress - they had to prepare and deliver a three-minute speech before what they
thought was an audience of peers watching via video link. Immediately after the stressful task,
they again completed the social problem-solving task to see whether experiencing social stress led
to declines in their problem-solving ability.
The researchers also followed the girls for nine months, checking in every three months, to ask
them about the stressors they were experiencing in interpersonal domains, such as with peers,
friends and family members, as well as about suicidal behaviors.
Overall, the researchers found that girls who showed greater declines in problem-solving
effectiveness in the lab, and who also experienced higher levels of interpersonal stress over the
nine-month follow-up period, were more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior over the nine-month
follow-up period.
"Importantly, problem-solving deficits under distress may increase risk for future suicidal
behavior only in combination with greater cumulative interpersonal stress in real life," Pollak said.
"Risk for suicidal behavior was higher among adolescents who showed greater declines in
effectiveness and who experienced high levels of interpersonal stress over nine-month follow-up,
consistent with robust evidence for links between interpersonal life stress and suicidal behavior."
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