# Biobehavioral Processes Involved in Social Communication, Connectedness, and Adolescent Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $68,310

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY. In the United States, suicide is the second leading cause of death with approximately
7,000 suicides occurring annually among those aged 10-24. Critically, these numbers are rising among youth,
and rates of serious suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are staggering, particularly among adolescent girls.
Both theory and empirical research suggest that social factors play a putative role in risk for suicide among youth.
Moreover, prior research implicates social communication – facial and non-facial cues exchanged during social
interaction – in these social factors (e.g., connectedness). Yet, research examining fine-grained biobehavioral
processes involved in social communication during interaction is extremely limited. The goal of this proposal,
therefore, is to take a multiple-units-of-analysis approach to examine adolescent girls' social communication
production and reception during actual social interactions, and determine whether alterations in biobehavioral
processes involved in social communication directly and independently contribute to girls' subsequent (i) day-
to-day social connectedness and (ii) STBs. An additional, exploratory aim will be to examine whether these
biobehavioral processes indirectly impact girls' STBs through their effects on day-to-day social connectedness.
Biobehavioral processes will include specific behavioral (i.e., eye-gaze and facial affect) and physiological (i.e.,
electrodermal activity [EDA] and pupil dilation) processes. Thus, this proposal will examine whether girls who
demonstrate disrupted social communication (i.e., reduced eye-gaze, positive facial affect, and EDA reciprocity;
attenuated gaze-contingent positive facial affect and EDA responses) will be less likely to exhibit future day-to-
day social connectedness with parents and peers (Hypothesis 1). Next, this proposal will examine whether girls
who demonstrate disruptions in the same biobehavioral processes involved in social communication will be more
likely to report future STB onset (Hypothesis 2). Finally, exploratory analyses will examine day-to-day social
disconnectedness as a potential mechanism through which deficits in social communication increase girls' STB
risk. Participants for the proposed study will be adolescent girls drawn from an R01 grant, involving multimodal
assessment during a laboratory-based parent-adolescent interaction task with girls (aged 11-13), follow-up
ecological momentary assessment of day-to-day social connectedness two years later (aged 13-15), and STB
assessments two (aged 13-15) and three years (aged 14-16) after the initial assessment. The sample size at
baseline comprised 129 dyads, and 119 dyads were retained at the two-year follow up. Three-year follow-up
assessments are ongoing. Under the guidance of leading experts in the field, training areas to facilitate future
investigative independence include: ecological momentary assessment, mobile eye-tracking, longitudinal data
analysis, and profe...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10314492
- **Project number:** 1F32MH127880-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Kiera M James
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $68,310
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10314492

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10314492, Biobehavioral Processes Involved in Social Communication, Connectedness, and Adolescent Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors (1F32MH127880-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10314492. Licensed CC0.

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