Abstract
Objective tools to assess suicide risk are needed to determine when someone is at imminent risk. In this pilot laboratory investigation, we used a within-subjects design to identify patterns in text messaging (short message service) unique to high-risk periods preceding suicide attempts. Individuals reporting a history of suicide attempt (N = 33) retrospectively identified past attempts and periods of lower risk (e.g., suicide ideation). Language analysis software scored 189,478 text messages to capture three psychological constructs: self-focus, sentiment, and social engagement. Mixed-effects models tested whether these constructs differed in general (means) and over time (slopes) 2 weeks before a suicide attempt relative to lower-risk periods. Regarding mean differences, no language features uniquely differentiated suicide attempts from other episodes. However, when examining patterns over time, anger increased and positive emotion decreased to a greater extent as participants approached a suicide attempt. Results suggest private electronic communication has the potential to provide real-time digital markers of suicide risk.
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