Uncovering proximal antecedents to Black male suicide using real-time approaches

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PROJECT SUMMARY The need for more robust evidence to predict risk and prevent suicide among Black male youth is critical in light of the rapidly rising rates of suicidal behaviors in this population. As the third leading cause of death in Black male youth aged 12-18, the timely identification of suicide risk is a critical public health priority. Yet, there is a fundamental gap in suicide research focused on Black male populations in these transitional developmental stages due to limited investigations of race-related (e.g. discrimination) stress as a unique antecedent to suicide and its potentially synergistic effect on known risk factors. Digital phenotyping platforms offers an innovative opportunity to collect real-time data associated with race-related stressors by integrating active (e.g. ecological momentary assessment-EMA) and passive (e.g. GPS, accelerometer, etc.) data using smartphones. Refined digital phenotyping platforms may provide more granular insights towards Black male youth's proximal suicide risk by assessing time-varying factors as they naturally occur. Thus, the proposed project aligns well with the recent NIMH Notice of Special Interest related to identifying risk and preventing Black youth suicide (NOT-MH-20-055). Specifically, the candidate plans to address the following specific aims: (1) Modify a culturally-adapted digital phenotyping protocol for appropriate use among Black male youth; (2) Conduct a pilot digital phenotyping study among a re-contacted and newly recruited psychiatric sample of Black male youth to determine feasibility and acceptability of real-time assessments of suicidology in the study population. The proposed K01 project enhances the candidate's prior research in mental health disparities and health services research among Black male adolescents, and will uniquely position the candidate to enhance suicide risk detection methodologies using real-time and culturally-responsive digital strategies. To achieve these career objectives, the applicant will work with a highly skilled mentorship team (Drs. Holly Wilcox, Roland Thorpe, Sean Joe, Johannes Thrul, and Hadi Kharrazi) and scientific advisory members (Drs. Leticia Ryan, David Williams, and Benjamin Lê Cook) to build four areas of expertise relevant to this research agenda: (1) intensive longitudinal design and analysis, (2) suicide risk identification, (3) engaged and culturally-responsive recruitment and retention strategies, and (4) translation of research for suitability in youth populations. The K01 award will increase the applicants' capabilities as an independent researcher to develop and test fully-powered real-time smartphone-based approaches to identify and mitigate suicide risk in this population.