# Reward responsiveness and emotion regulation under stress: Using event-relatedpotentials to better understand suicide risk in a longitudinal sample

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI · 2021 · $21,100

## Abstract

Project Summary. Despite efforts by academics, prevention programs, and industry leaders, suicide rates have
increased by 31% since 2001 and suicide remains the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. A major
challenge is understanding what mechanisms confer proximal risk for lethal and near-lethal suicide attempts.
Suicide attempts are most often preceded by an acute stressor and occur during brief periods characterized by
extreme emotional distress. However, research to date has overwhelmingly collected data under neutral (e.g.,
unstressed, comfortable) laboratory conditions, limiting the field's ability to understand how potential
mechanisms of risk operate during periods of acute stress. This is an unexplored area that can contribute to our
knowledge of how promising mechanisms operate under stress and differ within and between individuals across
time. Suicide attempts occur across many different disorders and can occur in the absence of a diagnosable
disorder; therefore, a transdiagnostic approach to studying mechanisms associated with suicide risk is needed.
Dysfunction in reward responsiveness and emotional reaction/regulation are two transdiagnostic factors that
have helped distinguish suicide attempters from ideators during unstressed conditions. Neural activity related
to reward responsiveness and emotional reaction/regulation capacity can be modulated by environmental
stimuli and likely functions differently during periods of acute stress, but these claims have not yet been
examined empirically. In addition, previous research on these factors has suffered from critical limitations such
as cross-sectional research designs and a reliance on self-report data. The current study seeks to address these
limitations by using a longitudinal design and multiple units of analysis (electroencephalography/event-related
potentials [EEG/ERP], self-report) to examine how reward responsiveness and emotion regulation change under
laboratory-induced stress (i.e., an attempt to elicit arousal mirroring aspects of a suicidal crisis). Specific Aim 1
is to investigate the impact of stress on reward responsiveness and emotional reaction/regulation in individuals
with a history of suicide attempt(s) compared to individuals with recent ideation. Specific Aim 2 is to examine if
neural activity related to reward responsiveness and emotional reaction/regulation capacity during acute stress
is associated with current and/or future suicide risk. Exploratory aims will investigate intraindividual variability
as well as how self-reported stress outside of the laboratory impacts reward responsiveness and emotion
regulation over time. Investigating how reward responsiveness and emotional reactivity/regulation are impacted
by arousal could offer important information on proximal risk and inform possible intervention targets during
high risk periods. Further, this study directly addresses several objectives outlined in the Prioritized Research
Agenda for Suicide...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10141093
- **Project number:** 1F31MH124347-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian Ward Bauer
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $21,100
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-01-20 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10141093

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10141093, Reward responsiveness and emotion regulation under stress: Using event-relatedpotentials to better understand suicide risk in a longitudinal sample (1F31MH124347-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10141093. Licensed CC0.

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