# Social Cognition and Suicide in Psychotic Disorders

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2021 · $693,555

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The risk of suicide is substantially elevated among people with psychotic disorders, and the presence of
psychosis is associated with more severe attempts and a higher likelihood of progression from suicidal ideation
to suicide attempt. The risk factors associated with suicide in psychotic disorders are somewhat divergent
from those in the broader population, including that greater cognitive ability is associated with higher probability
of suicidal behavior. Unfortunately, the great majority of recent suicide prevention trials exclude psychosis.
Despite the prominence of cognitive dysfunction in psychotic disorders, little research has systematically
evaluated potential neurocognitive mechanisms contributing to suicidal ideation and behavior in psychotic
disorders. Preliminary data from our research group and others indicates that social cognitive biases, such as
misperceptions of threat in others and valuation of relationships, may be particularly relevant to suicidality in
psychosis. Social cognitive biases may also be influenced by context, and our research with ecological
momentary assessment (EMA) evidences that negative biases toward others may be exacerbated when
people with psychosis are alone. These biases represent potential treatment targets that, once validated,
could set the stage for novel suicide prevention interventions in psychotic disorders. To address these gaps in
the literature, we propose a four-year three-site (UCSD, University of Miami, University of Texas at Dallas)
longitudinal observational research study in which outpatients with psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder with psychosis), stratified by presence of suicidal ideation at baseline, will be followed for one
year and repeatedly assessed for social cognitive biases, suicidal ideation and behavior, and other pertinent
risk factors. Innovation includes use of a measurement burst design, which integrates repeated lab-based
measures with concurrent EMA of real-time social appraisals, behavior, and contexts; this burst design enables
simultaneously evaluation of constructs over day-to-day and longer-term time scales. The proposed research
builds upon prior collaboration between the investigators in the areas of psychotic disorders, measurement,
social cognition, ecological momentary assessment, and more recently suicide research. Our Aims evaluate
the association between social cognitive biases and suicidal ideation and behavior at baseline, predictive
accuracy of these biases in trajectories of ideation and interim suicidal behavior, and within-person change in
dynamic associations between biases, social appraisals, and contexts integrating data from in-lab and EMA
modalities. This proposal responds directly to the recent Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention,
which identified a short-term goal to identify cognitive dysfunction profiles that may amenable to current
interventions, NIMH Strategic Aim 3.1 to iden...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10098343
- **Project number:** 5R01MH116902-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Colin A. Depp
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $693,555
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10098343

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10098343, Social Cognition and Suicide in Psychotic Disorders (5R01MH116902-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10098343. Licensed CC0.

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