# A Developmental Approach to Testing Suicidal Phenotypes in Early Childhood in Black Youth

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $761,286

## Abstract

Project Summary
Suicide is the 5th leading cause of death among children aged 5-11 (CDC, 2020). Rates of child suicide has
increased by 68% in the last decade, with rates significantly higher among Black compared to white children
(Bridge et al., 2018). The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has identified suicide prevention as an
urgent priority, particularly for groups at highest risk. Most studies of suicidality have been conducted in majority
White samples, leaving the experiences of Black children left out of scientific efforts to reduce youth suicide.
Thus, there is in urgent need for developmentally and culturally informed research on suicidality. In this
application we propose to adapt a widely used model for understanding the development of suicidal thoughts
and the transition from thoughts to behavior, the Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS; Joiner,
2005), according to which hopelessness in the context of lack of belongingness and burdensomeness leads to
suicidal ideation, and capacity to engage in self-harm leads to suicidal behavior. Components of the IPTS have
been reliably measured in adolescents and children as young as 10 years (Horton et al., 2016; Roberts et al.,
2020; Stewart, et al., 2017). The model was further elaborated to be relevant for Black youth by including
exposure to systemic, structural, and interpersonal racism as risks for and racial socialization and identity as
protective against suicidality (Robinson et al., 2021). We propose to test the reliability, validity, and stability of a
developmentally and culturally informed IPTS model beginning in early childhood (age 4-6 years) in Black youth.
The Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS) is a 20-year longitudinal study of 2,450 women who were initially enrolled when
they were between the ages of 5 and 8 years. We propose to enroll 300 Black offspring of PGS participants and
will enrich the sample by recruiting children of mothers with a history of suicidal ideation and attempts, which
have been measured prospectively for 20 years. We aim to recruit two age groups of children: 5–7-year-olds
and 7–9-year-olds. Both groups will be assessed six times at 9-month intervals, through ages 10-12 years. This
design will allow us to test the reliability, validity, and stability from early childhood to early adolescence of
hypothesized constructs of the suicidal process measured across multiple systems. Along with data from parent-
and self-report, heart rate variability and mood will be measured in response to age-appropriate probes:
Cyberball, parent-child tasks, loss/failure tasks, and the Balloon Analogue Reaction Task, which are
hypothesized to yield individual differences in loneliness, connectedness, self-worth and hopelessness, and
impulsivity. Embedding a study of early childhood suicide phenotypes in Black children of PGS participants will
allow robust tests of early risk and stability of suicidality in the context of culturally relevant risk and protect...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10912034
- **Project number:** 5R01MH134010-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathryn Elizabeth Keenan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $761,286
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-22 → 2028-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10912034

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10912034, A Developmental Approach to Testing Suicidal Phenotypes in Early Childhood in Black Youth (5R01MH134010-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10912034. Licensed CC0.

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