Mentalization and Social Cognition in Adolescents After Suicide Attempt

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Test: Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition, including : * PERSO: measurement of social reasoning, through the analysis and interpretation of social situations, the understanding of the emotions and intentions of others, as well as the adaptation of responses to the relational context; * Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC): video task measuring understanding of the mental states, intentions and emotions of others (theory of mind), * Ambiguous Intentions Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ): measurement of attribution biases and hostile interpretations in social interactions.

Questionnaires: To explore the associations between performance on the most discriminative social cognition measures (derived from the Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition \[ClaCoS\] battery) and several secondary variables that may influence socio-cognitive functioning or the characteristics of the suicide attempt, including: * Suicidal intent, assessed using the Suicide Intent Scale (SIS) * Anxiety symptoms, assessed using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) * Depressive symptoms, assessed using the Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) module of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS) * Socioeconomic vulnerability, assessed using the EPICES deprivation score * Attachment styles, assessed using the Adolescent Relationship Scale Questionnaire (ARSQ) * Sleep characteristics, assessed using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and the Disturbing Dreams and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI) * Everyday social cognition skills, assessed us

Study summary

This study investigates the risk of violent suicide attempts in adolescents, with a particular focus on social cognition and sleep disturbances, to better understand the cognitive and behavioral mechanisms involved and to inform more targeted prevention strategies.

Violent suicide attempts are defined as the use of methods with a high immediate lethal potential. They are associated with distinct clinical profiles and specific risk factors, including an increased risk of recurrence and completed suicide.

Although the association between suicidal behavior and psychiatric disorders is well established, evidence regarding the underlying neurocognitive factors remains inconsistent. In particular, little is known about the role of social cognition in suicidal risk among adolescents. Research in this area is limited, leaving an important gap in our understanding of the cognitive processes that may contribute to the emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors during adolescence.

In addition, studies conducted in community-based adolescent cohorts have shown that insufficient sleep duration is independently associated with increased suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior, even after accounting for depressive symptoms.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Level of performance in social cognition in the two groups of adolescents hospitalized following a suicide attempt, distinguishing: adolescents who made a violent suicide attempt and those who made a non-violent suicide attempt — 1 day
  Social cognition will be assessed using three subtests from the Clinical Assessment of Social Cognition (ClaCoS) battery. The PERSO task evaluates social reasoning through the interpretation of social situations and yields a total score based on the number of correct responses. The MASC (Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition) assesses theory of mind using a video-based task and provides a total score corresponding to the number of correctly inferred mental states. The AIHQ assesses attributional biases in ambiguous social situations and generates scores reflecting hostile and intentionality attribution biases. For all three measures, scores will be analysed as continuous variables, with higher scores indicating better social cognitive performance (PERSO, MASC) or stronger attributional biases (AIHQ).

Trial sites (1)

More Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris trials in France