title: Moving Beyond Self-Report: Implicit Associations about Death/Life Prospectively Predict Suicidal Behavior among Veterans.
abstract: Reliance on self-report limits clinicians' ability to accurately predict suicidal behavior. In this study the predictive validity of an objective measure, the death/suicide Implicit Association Test (d/sIAT), was tested among psychiatrically hospitalized veterans. Following acute stabilization, 176 participants completed the d/sIAT and traditional suicide risk assessments. Participants had similar d/sIAT scores regardless of whether they had recently attempted suicide. However, d/sIAT scores significantly predicted suicide attempts during the 6-month follow-up above and beyond other known risk factors for suicidal behavior (OR = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.15-3.12; based on 1SD increase). The d/sIAT may augment the accuracy of suicide risk assessment.
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Sean M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.|Departments of Psychiatry and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Nazanin H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Bahraini
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.|Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Biostatistics and Informatics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Jeri E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Stearns-Yoder
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Trisha A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Hostetter
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Denver, CO, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Herbert T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Nagamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Nock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011581:Psychological Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D026712:Value of Life; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D000092864:Suicide Prevention