# Interoception as a Novel Risk Factor for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

> **NIH NIH F31** · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $35,139

## Abstract

Project Summary
Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide and the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the
US. Despite advances in understanding of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and their treatment, the suicide rate
has not decreased. One possible factor limiting progress in this area has been a lack of focus on
understanding (and targeting) developmental mechanisms that may give rise to suicidal thoughts and
behaviors. Interoception, the perception of internal bodily states, holds promise as a novel factor that may
increase risk for suicide. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors center around inflicting harm to the body, yet
surprisingly little work has tested whether and how disrupted interoceptive processes may contribute to risk for
suicide. Given the centrality of the body in suicidal thoughts and behaviors and the unique interoceptive
learning and processing that may occur during adolescence, altered interoceptive processing represents a
novel risk factor that may advance understanding of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents. This
proposal tests the associations between interoceptive processes and the occurrence of suicidal thoughts and
behaviors. Eighty adolescents with and without suicidal thoughts and behaviors will undergo assessments of
suicidal thoughts and behaviors, psychophysiological measurement of interoceptive processes, exposure to
childhood trauma, and ecological momentary assessments of suicidal thoughts and behaviors and appraisals
of body sensations. Aim 1 of this proposal is to test the association between perceptual interoceptive
processes (i.e., interoceptive accuracy, sensitivity, and attention) and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Aim 2 of
this proposal is to test the association between appraisals and descriptions of body sensations and suicidal
thoughts and behaviors. Aim 3 of this proposal is to test whether interoceptive processes are a potential
mediator of the associations between childhood trauma and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The proposed
study’s greatest potential impacts are to use innovative strategies to study a novel potential risk factor for
suicidal thoughts and behaviors, identify putative pathways that have clear translational value, and to
potentially identify novel targets for intervention to treat suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10926826
- **Project number:** 5F31MH132231-02
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Azure Reid-Russell
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $35,139
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10926826

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10926826, Interoception as a Novel Risk Factor for Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors (5F31MH132231-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10926826. Licensed CC0.

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