Citation

Miller AB, Jenness J, Elton A, Pelletier-Baldelli A, Patel K, Bonar A, Martin S, Dichter G, Giletta M, Slavich GM, Rudolph KD, Hastings P, Nock M, Prinstein MJ, Sheridan M. Biol. Psychiatry 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.10.015

PMID

37918460

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are common among adolescent girls and increase risk for suicide death. Emotion regulation difficulties are linked with STBs, particularly in response to targeted social rejection. However, neural correlates of this link have not been investigated and may identify novel targets for interventions. Here, we examine neural correlates of emotion regulation before and after an experimentally delivered targeted social rejection in girls with and without STBs (i.e., Controls).

METHOD: Girls (n=138; ages 9-15, M(age)=11.6, SD=1.79) completed a functional neuroimaging emotion regulation task. In the middle of the emotion regulation task, participants were socially rejected by an unfamiliar confederate whom the participants had elected to meet. Participants completed a multi-method STB assessment.

RESULTS: Prior to rejection, girls with a history of STBs versus Controls showed greater activation when passively viewing negative stimuli in the right superior frontal gyrus, and girls with suicidal behavior (SB) versus without showed less activation in the right frontal pole during emotion regulation attempts. Following the rejection, girls with STBs versus Controls showed greater activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus during emotion regulation.

CONCLUSIONS: Prior to social rejection, girls with versus without SB may not activate brain regions implicated in emotion regulation, suggesting a vulnerability to poor regulation at their baseline emotional state. After a social rejection, girls with any STB history showed altered activation in a brain region strongly associated with inhibition and emotion regulation success, possibly reflecting increased effort at inhibiting emotional responses during regulation following stress exposure.

Language: en

Keywords

suicide attempts; emotion processing; suicidal thoughts; adolescent suicide risk; functional neuroimaging; interpersonal stress