# Interpersonal emotion regulation processes in suicidal Nepali youth

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $40,245

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
The current proposal addresses the relationship between interpersonal emotion regulation and suicide in
Nepali youth. Despite the disproportionately high suicide burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC),
the global mental health field has made limited progress in predicting and preventing youth suicide.
Interpersonal factors are strongly and consistently linked to youth suicide in LMIC. However, the pathways
through which interpersonal factors influence suicidal behaviors in LMIC are unclear and represent a critical
gap in youth suicide prevention. Emotion regulation may provide a promising bridge between interpersonal
factors and suicide in LMIC. However, current emotion regulation in LMIC is negligible and limited in its focus
on the individual at the expense of the broader social and cultural context in which emotion regulation occurs.
The current mixed-methods study leverages advances in clinical behavioral science and dynamic systems
modeling to investigate interpersonal emotion regulation processes in Nepali youth with rapidly rising rates of
suicide. The study focuses on expressive suppression (ES), an interpersonal emotion regulation mechanism
with salient cultural dimensions. In this sequential exploratory study, the study aims to: (1) use qualitative
methods to identify culturally-relevant behavioral indicators of ES in Nepali youth; and (2) use these indicators
to code for ES during a structured laboratory observation between Nepali youth dyads that explores dynamic
associations between ES and interpersonal validation, negative emotion, and suicidal behaviors. By providing
a dynamic understanding of real-time interpersonal processes implicated in suicide, findings can be used to
develop culturally-relevant suicide interventions for in Nepal and other LMIC where the global suicide epidemic
is concentrated. Findings can also generalize to Asian-American and Nepali-origin Bhutanese refugee youth in
the U.S. with rapidly rising rates of suicide. A dynamic understanding of interpersonal processes suicide
significantly improves our understanding of the Research Domain Criteria “Social communication” construct
and can also be extended to other disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress) where
interpersonal processes are also central. The applicant is ideally positioned to conduct this work given her
strong global mental health research and publishing background, six-year history conducting suicide and
emotion regulation research in Nepal, well-situated mentorship team of relevant content and methodological
experts, and access to required resources and mentorship in Nepal.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10019338
- **Project number:** 5F31MH122043-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** MEGAN RAMAIYA
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $40,245
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-16 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10019338

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10019338, Interpersonal emotion regulation processes in suicidal Nepali youth (5F31MH122043-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10019338. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*