# Real-time Intervention for Reducing Suicide Risk

> **NIH NIH R34** · RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J. · 2020 · $126,440

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Suicide is among the leading causes of death worldwide, and the risk of suicide is highest in the period immediately
following discharge from inpatient psychiatric care. Once patients leave inpatient care, the skills learned during treatment may
be difficult to use during the highly distressing time leading up to and during suicidal thoughts and behaviors, which may
frequently occur during the time immediately after they are discharged. Surprisingly, current treatments are not designed to be
effective during a suicide crisis. Interventions that can reduce the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, both in general and
specifically during the post-discharge period, should (1) be easily adhered to and (2) be particularly accessible and efficient
during a suicide crisis. The goal of this study is to test an innovative new intervention that uses two new technologies,
ecological momentary intervention (EMI) and wearable physiological monitoring to deliver the Unified Protocol (UP) - a
transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy. Delivery of this brief intervention will happen not just at certain times or when
triggered by the participant, but also in response to physiological changes that signal intense distress (i.e., changes in
electrodermal activity over a short period). EMI and physiological monitoring are uniquely suited for adherence and
accessibility during a suicide crisis because more than 80% of Americans aged 18-49 carry a smartphone with them throughout
the day, and because the study will use a physiological monitoring device worn unobtrusively on the wrist like a watch. The UP
is uniquely suited for efficacy because it is a short-term, skills-based treatment that focuses on teaching adaptive responses to
intense emotion (such as the intense emotion that characterizes a suicide crisis). Moreover, initial findings support the use of
an adapted brief UP intervention with suicidal inpatients. The project will have three phases: (1) a small uncontrolled pilot of
intervention that will then (2) be modified based on insights gleaned from the pilot, and finally (3) tested in a larger
randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants in the uncontrolled pilot will be 25 inpatients and participants in the RCT will
be 150 inpatients (n = 75 each in treatment as usual [TAU] plus intervention and TAU plus assessment [i.e., control] groups)
from the Massachusetts General Hospital Inpatient Psychiatric Service. The intervention will consist of four in-person
inpatient therapy sessions and smartphone-based EMI with physiological monitoring for the duration of participants' inpatient
stay and the high-risk 28-day post-discharge period, as well as several inpatient sessions aimed at delivering core EMI content
and training participants on the use of the EMI. The project's long-term aims are to (1) conduct a small pilot test of the
intervention, (2) conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the effects of the intervention, and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9899116
- **Project number:** 5R34MH113757-03
- **Recipient organization:** RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIV OF N.J.
- **Principal Investigator:** Evan Kleiman
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $126,440
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-07 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9899116

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9899116, Real-time Intervention for Reducing Suicide Risk (5R34MH113757-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9899116. Licensed CC0.

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